At almost 20 years old, Vicksburg’s radio system is beginning to feel its age and reaching a point where it is getting too old to repair, one of the city’s information technology specialists said Friday.
IT specialist Bill Ford told the Board of Mayor and Aldermen Friday the city has received a letter from Motorola, which has the maintenance contract to keep the system operating, that it can no longer get parts to maintain or repair the system if something goes down.
His comments came at the request of South Ward Alderman Willis Thompson as the board was renewing the city’s maintenance contract with Motorola.

“We started designing this radio system 21 years ago, and it will be close to 19 years by the end of this year,” Ford said.

“Motorola told us several years ago that we were coming to a point where parts would no longer be available for it. No. 2, the technicians who have been trained on it are no longer with the company. They’re growing a little gray hair.”
Ford said the city has a backup system if the main service goes down, “but that means we would have no backup. It leaves us in situation that we really don’t want to be in.”
He said the city and county decided several years ago to have one radio system so city and county emergency responders can communicate with each other.
Vicksburg and Warren County share a central 911-dispatching center that is funded primarily by monthly surcharges on residential and business telephone bills and supplements from the city and the county.
Created in 1989, it is overseen by a commission composed of city and county department heads and elected officials to administer centralized dispatching of emergency personnel.
Ford said he has been talking with county officials about developing a partnership to replace the outdated system, adding the best situation for a new system is the city and county to join together and split the cost. If there is no joint effort, he said, the city would have to pay for the new system.
“It’s going to cost us up to about $4 million for a new system if we go it alone,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said. “If we join the county, we reduce that. We share the cost.”
The board is considering the possibility it will have to pay for the equipment outright.
About $3.1 million for a new radio system is included in a list of proposed capital improvement projects being reviewed by the city.
Ford said after the meeting the system was designed in the early 1990s and commissioned in 1995. He said the main problem with the system is the master computer that monitors the system and controls the radio zones and frequencies.
“It was designed in the late 1980s,” he said. “It will cost about $1 million to replace it.”
He said a second solution to the city’s problem is to join the state’s MSWIN network, a statewide radio communications network developed after Hurricane Katrina that can link state, county and city emergency radio systems through one central system.
He said the city has been invited to join the network.
“That would be the least expensive alternative,” he said.

On the agenda
Meeting Friday, the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen:
• Recognized police department employees Shirley Lundstrom and Alberta Wheeler on their fifth anniversary with the city.
• Re-approved the new cemetery fee schedule for Cedar Hill Cemetery to correct an error in the cost of two plots in 2016 from $436 to $546.
• Awarded a contract to replace the central fire station and vehicle maintenance shop roofs to Guaranteed Roofing Co. of Pearl. The company’s $225,000 bid was the lowest of two bids on the project.
• Declared Nov. 11 a city holiday for Veterans Day.
• Reappointed Fred Katzenmeyer to the Planning and Zoning Commission.
• Approved a request from the Vicksburg Theatre Guild for $10,000 in matching funds. State law allows cities to allocate money to expand and support the arts.
• Approved $200 for an ad promoting the city in the Vicksburg High School yearbook.
• Approved a request from Christ Empowerment Youth Ministry to block Halls Ferry Road to 1404 Lane St. on Nov. 1 from 12:30 to 6 p.m. for its second youth rally.
• Authorized City Clerk Walter Osborne to advertise for bids professional grant writing services for the Mississippi Development Authority Home Improvement Partnership, which assists the elderly with improving or building a home.
• Authorized Community Development Director Victor Gray-Lewis to clean the following properties: 1499 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 1616 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., a lot on Bonelli St.
• Approved a request from Vicksburg Church of Christ Holiness USA to block Fifth North Street beside the church for its annual Holy-Ween celebration Wednesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
• Approved a resolution allowing the assignment of an administrative contract between Jimmy Gouras Urban Planning Consultants to Professional Grant Managements Services. Professional Grant Management Services is acquiring Gouras’ business.
• Adopted a resolution to submit an application for the city to have the Riverwalk Casino and Hotel declared a resort area. City Attorney Nancy Thomas said the casino never had resort status.
• Approved bank statements for Trustmark Bank and BancorpSouth.
• Approved the following reports: city sexton, privilege license, mayor and treasurer, monthly tax collections, delinquent tax collection and detailed budget.
• Approved the claims docket.