Representatives of Oliver and Associates, Motorola, Inc., and Northeastern Communications explained in detail the chosen system, the bidding, upgrade and after-installation services and processes to a packed auditorium at Shepardson.

Handouts included the town's 45-page Request For Proposal and information from representatives of Service Employees International Union representing local police officers, in favor of the upgrade.

Police Commission Chairman Ron Clark said the session was to help address residents' concerns and would not be followed by a vote on the communications system upgrade.

The Board of Selectmen on July 20 approved Motorola, Inc., as the chosen vendor to implement the police communications upgrade at a cost of about $2.4 million.

At the Board of Finance meeting on August 5, Bruce Marcus, Marcus Communications, another vendor, said he had never been contacted by Oliver Associates, the town's communications consultant, regarding his bid of about $1.2 million. He questioned the RFP evaluation process and said his bid met the RFP's requirements.

Pete Oliver and senior associate Paul Jacobson, Oliver and Associates, Orange, presented the RFP, the details of both bids and Oliver and Associates' reports to the Police Commission at the public information session.

"There's been a significant campaign conducted by the media and public meetings of misinformation, half truths, innuendo and half false statements," Mr. Oliver said.

"We are here to iron out concerns," First Selectman Tom Gormley said, noting that police officers are in jeopardy because of the current, insufficient, 50-50 coverage (50 percent of coverage, 50 percent of the time).

Police Chief Richard Guisti thanked residents, town employees, board members and business owners for attending.

"This is one of the most important decisions I'm making in my 22 years in the town of Middlebury," he said.

Chief Guisti said the police department has been functioning on a low-band communications system originally installed in 1972 when the department was first established.

Chief Guisti said two upgrades had been conducted on the existing system since its installation, including the purchase of car radios and upgrading the communications center in 1994. He said the basic existing system has remained unchanged.

Chief Guisti cited the town's growth since 1972 and the increasing demands on the police department as a result.

He said radios had failed to connect him and other officers with headquarters and eachother during a fatal motor vehicle accident, a public event and a case involving an unconscious infant.

He said the number of incoming calls was 10,759 in 2007-08, compared to 6,700 calls in 1985, and referred to increases in police officers' duties, residential and commercial growth.

He said there are dead zones in Middlebury where police officers can neither communicate with headquarters or each other.

Chief Guisti said the town originally received 10 bids from consultants, ranging from $21,000 to $245,000, after which the choice was narrowed down to four vendors from which Oliver Associates was chosen.

He outlined in detail the three years it has taken to get this far in the communications upgrade process, the neighboring towns he consulted, the VHF sub-committee that was established to monitor the upgrade and the needs assessment Oliver Associates conducted to put together a RFP to go out to bid.

Fire Marshal Chip Longo asked if Chief Guisti was happy with the approved system from Motorola.

Chief Guisti said the system would help the town move into the 21st century. "We need to upgrade this system for the next generation," he said.

A resident asked Mr. Oliver if the RFP was biased to suit one bidder more than the other, and who Motorola's prime competitors were.

Mr. Oliver said the RFP was not biased "by any stretch of the imagination." He said his firm attempted to solicit bids from other manufacturers but they did not respond.

He said larger manufacturers are looking for larger projects of $5.5 million or more. He said only two vendors competed in the bidding process; Motorola, Inc., and Marcus Communications.

Janice Kulpa, an independent candidate for selectman, asked why three pages of the RFP made references to Motorola. She asked if this had been pre-planned.

Mr. Oliver said these are documents developed by Motorola and accepted throughout the industry as standards for a specific application.

He said he is not affiliated with any vendor or manufacturer and gave examples of client towns where he has managed communications upgrades.

Mr. Jacobson of Oliver Associates said the police department's current low-band system "is seriously deficient in coverage" with respect to the mobile and portable units. "It is dysfunctional," he said.

According to Mr. Jacobson, many manufacturers no longer manufacture the existing equipment, which faces interference issues and no signals in buildings and dead zones.

He said the primary goals of the system upgrade are to: provide on-hip, in-building coverage; to move all users to compatible, operable inter-band high system; to establish a new centralized UPS and upgraded CAD system for safety and effectiveness.

He said the needs assessment determined the need for 95-95 coverage in Middlebury. "This equates to 95 percent probability of completed communication within 95 percent of the coverage area."

He said 100 percent coverage is impossible to attain and would require "several orders of magnitude higher than what we ordered today."

Mr. Jacobson said bids from both Marcus Communications and Motorola were submitted to the VHF Subcommittee in January 2009.

He said the bid from Marcus Communications at approximately $1,259,000, comprised two transmission towers, 140 feet tall, to be located at Breakneck Hill and Washington Drive.

He said the Marcus Communications did not include the following: Digital option at $379,000, fire department's head set system at about $300,000, no references to simulcasts and two receive-only sites at the police department and the public works department.

According to Mr. Jacobson, Marcus Communications adjusted the cost per RFP specifications to $1,668,000.

He said a minimum of three simulcasts were required by the RFP. The Marcus Communications proposal, Mr. Jacobson said, did not meet the 95-95 coverage specified in the RFP.

Mr. Jacobson said [Marcus Communications'} response was as follows: "Marcus has determined it is not economically feasible, without increasing the cost of the system at a reasonable price, to provide 95 percent in building, on-hip coverage for portables."

Mr. Jacobson said Motorola, Inc., quoted $2,476,000, which was all-inclusive according to the RFP specifications. The quote did not require adjustments.

He said Motorola's services were supplemented by the following: A local authorized distributor, Northeastern Communications; simulcast references, locations for four additional receive-only sites at Town Hall, the Timex building, the public works garage facility and Clubhouse Drive; guarantee for the whole contract and a coverage map showing 95-95 coverage.

He said Motorola, Inc., proposed an 80-foot tall tower at Breakneck Hill.

Mr. Jacobson said Oliver Associates' remarks to the VHF Subcommittee were in favor of Motorola, Inc., because, the consultants said, Marcus did not meet the RFP in three areas: Coverage, references and guarantees.

"If not for cost, the proposal wouldn't even be in consideration," Mr. Jacobson said. "There's no valid cost comparison possible for a non-compliant bid."

Mr. Oliver, Bob Prince, Oliver and Associates account manager, and Sandra Dargis and Field Engineer Bob Russell of Motorola, Inc., answered questions from the floor.

Judy Reibold of Northeastern Communications addressed residents' concerns about services after installation of the equipment.

Joe Pacileo, a write-in candidate for first selectman, asked about the time frame for the implementation.

Mr. Oliver said he estimated a year.

Edward St. John, a write-in candidate for first selectman, asked what dictated the high band 150-174 mHz frequency in the RFP. He asked if Mr. Oliver considered opting for a higher frequency.

Mr. St. John also questioned why one system is not used across all departments. According to Mr. St. John, the fire department is on an analog system and the police department is on digital.

Mr. Oliver said the chosen frequency range is the range that Middlebury falls in. He said the chosen range preserves the operability with surrounding communities and also provides the coverage needed for the town.

According to Mr. Oliver, the public works department will operate on a digital system and the use of pagers and other specific services lead to a need for a "mixed use system."

Resident John Cook questioned the 95-95 coverage and the kind of reporting services that will be provided to the town after installation of the system.

Ms. Reibold, Northeastern Communications, said completion of the coverage testing is the benchmark, after which readings are checked, quarterly, during the maintenance period.

She said a complete optimization of the system is done annually and, assuming readings are stable, coverage also remains stable.

"If at any time you experience a degraded signal," she said, "we can come back out and retest certain areas as needed."

She said Northeastern Communications does not retest the entire town on a routine basis.

Mr. Cook asked how a possible failure of the system would be handled.

Ms. Reibold said Northeastern Communications has two hours to respond to a remote or on-site failure. She said their systems indicate a complete failure, not small failures. Ms. Reibold said contractual commitments have yet to be negotiated in detail.

Resident Jim Kelly asked about the 95-95 "mandatory requirements" in the RFP and whether this was a standard for all towns that Oliver Associates has worked with.

"What was Marcus thinking when they couldn't meet that requirement?" he wondered.

Mr. Oliver said 95-95 is the standard for any job and it is the town's and commission's requirement.

Mr. Kelly asked who was responsible for developing and approving the verification test plan and what would happen if the 95-95 system does not meet the requirements.

According to Mr. Oliver, the penalty for the vendor not meeting the system's requirements is no payment. He said this has occurred occasionally and the system's coverage will be tested.

Chief Financial Officer Larry Hutvagner explained what the cost of the system upgrade would mean for taxpayers.

He said if the town borrows $2,476,000 at the current interest rate (determined by Webster Bank) of 3.5 percent over 20 years, the cost for a household would be as follows: Assuming the value of a house is assessed at $200,000 to $400,000 and its value does not change over time, the cost per household for 95-95 coverage in the first year would be $40 to $80.

Twenty years after paying the principal amount, the cost per household would be $24 to $48. Mr. Hutvagner said these figures are not yet final and had not been approved by the Board of Finance. He said they were just scenarios based on assumptions.

Mr. Clark and Mr. Gormley thanked Oliver and Associates, Motorola, Inc., Northeastern Communications and residents for attending the session and expressing their concerns.

Mr. Gormley said the current system "is totally unacceptable. We cannot stay here. We have to move forward."