Posted by madcityradio.com on January 22, 2010 at 15:34:44:
In Reply to: City considers joining radio pact posted by madcityradio.com on January 22, 2010 at 15:33:05:
Excerpts of county's latest proposal
Bullet points from the latest offer, as submitted in a Jan. 20 letter to the Dane County Cities and Villages Association:
We believe the counter offer you offered has brought us much closer to realizing the best system in Wisconsin. However, your letter asks for nearly $3 million more in additional county costs. In the spirit of cooperation we agree:
� To eliminate the first year county subsidy for communities with per capita value under $100K. This means all municipalities to be billed on equalized value in 2013. The county and state agencies (UW Police, State Capitol Police) that have no "equalized value" will be billed on a per radio basis (estimated at $291 a radio) for 2013. This provision was originally designed to help poorer communities that may have had trouble joining the system, but seems to have caused more trouble that it was worth.
� To fund half of the operating and maintenance expenses for 2013, as requested by Dane County Cities and Villages. This will be achieved through achieving technical design efficiencies with the system currently proposed.
� We agree to the Dane County Cities and Villages counter proposal under the heading "Operating and Maintenance Costs" with the inclusion of language in the IGA [intergovernmental agreement]reaffirming the point that Dane County (starting in the second half of 2013) will be billed as a user only. We propose language for the IGA stating: "users in all municipalities/jurisdictions are to pay operating and maintenance in each year the interoperable radio network is in use, beginning July 1, 2013 and lasting through the duration the interoperable radio network is utilized. Starting in 2014, the formula determining payment will be based on two factors: the number of radios and talk-time (minutes of radio communication use). What percentage each of these two factors comprise the operating and maintenance formula shared by all users (how they are weighted) will be determined by the governance committee after 2013 but all users pay. The governance committee may advise the county on the need for infrastructure upgrades to the system in subsequent years. The County Executive and County Board have sole discretion over approval of and appropriating county dollars for any improvements related to the infrastructure of the system."
� To language in the Dane County Cities and Villages counter proposal under the heading of "Defining Operating and Maintenance Costs" with the exception of the need to include work done by the City of Madison Radio Shop as acceptable Operating and Maintenance expense. (This service is less expensive than if performed by private entities).
� Regarding governance, we believe that representation should be based on participation in the radio network. We recommend any governance structure be based on the outcome of responses to the county's November 18th letter from your members and others. In other words, communities that do not wish to participate in the system should not be part of the governance structure. We are open to discussing possible governance models once it's determined how many cities, villages, and towns are actually committing to participate and whether we are proceeding and believe the basic outline you proposed is reasonable.
: UPDATE: The DCCVA voted Wednesday night to reject the counterproposal put forth by Falk and Dane County Board Chair Scott McDonell (see sidebar).