Shawano County could save more than $17,000 if the lowest bid for the Sheriff’s Department radio replacement plan pans out.
The Public Safety Committee this week recommended, by a 4-1 vote, that the county use Northway Communications, based in Wausau, to replace old radios that are no longer usable under the new simulcast communications system installed for the Sheriff’s Department last year.
Northway had the lowest announced bid for equipment and installation at $197,198.42.
The county was going to spend $214,408 with Motorola Solutions to replace 50 radios, but the County Board halted that plan in August, sending it back to the committee because the project had not been put out for bids.
Two other companies also submitted bids for the replacement project. Baycom, from Green Bay, gave a final bid of $219,552.08, which included a $22,500 trade-in for the old radios.
TLS Enterprises, a Shawano company, submitted a bid for $12,800 that was only to remove the old radios and install the new ones. The county would have to purchase the equipment separately.
The radio project was not on the County Board agenda for next week, but Sheriff’s Department staff is expected to try and get the agenda amended so the project could move forward.
Supervisor Mike McClelland, the lone vote against the bid, questioned why the project needed to be rushed to the County Board.
“We’ve waited this long, so why can’t we wait another month?” McClelland said.
Supervisor Ron Kupper disagreed, pointing out the older radios are not working with the new system, putting residents and law enforcement officers in jeopardy.
“They need the radios bad,” Kupper said.
Although hesitant to move forward with a bid without checking all the qualifications, Supervisor Ken Capelle also favored getting the bid to the County Board.
“With this county’s history with radios, we need to do this right,” Capelle said.
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