Macon Public Safety Radio Upgrade Won’t Happen Anytime Soon

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Macon Department of Public Safety will have to wait a little longer before it gets new emergency radio equipment.

The appropriations committee split a 2-2 vote Monday on a resolution that would have made Harris Corporation the city’s new supplier of an upgraded, 800MHz-compliant radio system.  The deal would have cost the city $7.7 million.

The city has had a lengthy relationship with Motorola, who currently provides the radio system,  but the committee in charge of selecting which company would provide the radio upgrades says Motorola couldn’t offer what the city was looking for.

A Motorola representative was at the meeting to declare his company could in fact meet the requirements and alleged the selection committee acted too fast, unfairly eliminating his company from the bidding process.

Because of the uncertainty on how the process played out, the resolution to make Harris the new radio system provider fizzled out.

“While I understand there were some concerns with how the process began, I think the administration dealt with those,” says chairman of the appropriations committee, Tom Ellington, who wanted to approve Harris as the new provider.  “I looked at the selection committee and the eight experts who were on there (who) unanimously recommended Harris’s bid, and the fact is, we do need a new 800 MHz system.”

Ellington tells 41NBC he has no idea when a new bid will be brought up for a vote to replace the aging system but repeatedly said the city is in dire need of a new one.