Submitted By
Fire Chief Tom Ebsen
Reviewed By
LKS
Agenda Item Title
Title
A Resolution Authorizing the Submission of an Application with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for an Assistance to Firefighters Grant for a Regional Digital Dispatch Fire Station Alerting System in the Amount of $220,503.30
End
Overview
Overview
The purpose of this grant is to fund a comprehensive upgrade of the fire department's alerting system for all three stations. We have included River Forest, Forest Park, Elmwood Park, and WSCDC and are applying as a single region with Oak Park being the "host" agency. The grant would allow us to replace outdated alerting equipment that does not meet current National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes. It would correct several current difficiencies including lack of redundancy, lack of equipment failure notification, dependency on manual call processing, and failure to provide a modulated, shock-free alerting tone
Body
Staff Recommendation
Approve the Motion.
Fiscal Impact
If the grant is approved Oak Park's cost would be a 15% of the total cost of $33,075. VOP's 15% portion would be $33,075. The Oak Park Foreign Fire Fund has agreed to pick up the entire $33,075 which would leave the direct Village contribution to be $0.
Background
The current alerting system for the fire department is fifteen years old. Applying as a regional grant with five agencies ensures that, if awarded, the time spent providing assistance to each other will be improved dramatically. The current system has the following specific deficiencies:
* No redundancies in equipment or alerting paths- this creates a situation where the fire department will not receive a call for emergency service due to a single radio tower problem or a failure of the obsolete station tone boxes. This has occurred in the past, is not easy to fix quickly, and has a sustained negative effect on the operations of the fire department.
* No notification of equipment fa...
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