TITLE
Title
FIRSTNET ARPA REALLOCATION
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SPONSOR
Sponsor
Abby Gostling, Program & Fiscal Recovery Manager
Jim Albright, Emergency Services Director
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BACKGROUND
Background
During their April 21, 2022 work session, the Board of Commissioners allocated $1.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to support NC Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology. This funding allocation was contingent upon NC GREAT grant funds being awarded by the NC Department of Information Technology’s Broadband Infrastructure Office. To date, one of the three GREAT grant projects has been funded with a reduced scope, requiring a county match of $49,760.70 from the total allocation of $1.1 million.
This item requests to reallocate $608,359 of the remaining $1,050,239.30 NC GREAT grant allocation of funds towards the implementation of FirstNet for rural fire districts within Guilford County. The funding source will be federal ARPA funds under Expenditure Category 6.1 Revenue Replacement: Provision of Government Services.
This project will allow the rural fire protection districts to have access to the FirstNet, which allows them to access the dedicated Band 14 infrastructure supported by the US Government as a post 9/11 recommendation. Many of these districts were invested in other cellular technology or simply lacked the funding to have access to mobile computer terminals, and this funding will allow them to switch to FirstNet hardware, and pay for three (3) years of service from July 1, 2023 - June 20, 2026. Districts will be able to apply for reimbursement up to $55,000 for devices and $45,000 for the total three (3) year service cost.
FirstNet offers the following features:
• Reliable, interoperable, high-speed LTE network core dedicated to public safety communications. The network connects law enforcement, fire services, emergency medical services, and other first-responder organizations.
• Priority and preemption with First Priority®. This gives f...
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