TITLE
title
INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF GREENSBORO AND CITY OF HIGH POINT FOR A COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM
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SPONSOR
sponsor
Jim Albright
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BACKGROUND
background
In 2010, Guilford County, the City of Greensboro, and the City of High Point utilized Homeland Security Grant funding to create the GEANI (Guilford Emergency Notification and Information) system, to provide seamless notifications to residents within Guilford County for public safety alerts. From 2010 to 2014, Homeland Security Grant funds were used to maintain and support the system. In 2014, Guilford County, the City of Greensboro, and City of High Point entered into an inter-local agreement to share the ongoing maintenance costs of the system (Contract 36460-04/14-064).
The current system infrastructure is now outdated and no longer supported by the vendor, requiring a substantial upgrade of hardware and ongoing maintenance costs. Based on the communities’ expectations for emergency notifications, and the need for non-emergency notifications to residents and businesses, the partnership between Guilford County, Greensboro and High Point elected to go out for bids to solicit replacement systems to enhance the current GEANI system and ensure continued community notifications.
The notification system was competitively bid through Purchasing under event #533 for a software as a service. Based on the procurement process, the Everbridge Unified Critical Communications Suite was chosen as the most responsive vendor that met the requirements set forth by the participating agencies. This proposed system will provide emergency and non-emergency notifications to residents, businesses, and employees in a coordinated manner without the need for local hardware costs. Additionally, non-public safety agencies will use the system to communicate with customers on issues such as water outages, changes in garbage collection days, interruptions in service, press release distribution, and employee notifications. The system will allow agencies to upload customer and employee databases, and a portal for individuals to opt-in for notifications on cell phones, text message, e-mails, or voice calls.
The inter-local agreement will replace contract 36460-04/14-064 with the City of Greensboro and sets the cost sharing mechanisms and governance structures for system implementation, maintenance, and use.
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BUDGET IMPACT
budget impact
Budget Ordinance Amendment
General Fund
Increase User Charges by $88,666
Increase Appropriation to Emergency Services by $88,666
NO ADDITIONAL COUNTY FUNDS REQUIRED
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REQUESTED ACTION
requested action
Approve an interlocal agreement, in substantial form, with the City of Greensboro and the City of High Point to share in the use and maintenance costs of a Community Notification System. Approve an increase in User Charges revenue by $88,666 and an increase in the Emergency Services FY2017 budget by $88,666 to support the implementation.
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