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<br />" <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson indicated he was asking for approval of a Joint Powers Agreement for a <br />Public Safety Communications system. He then provided a brief history of public safety <br />communications in Anoka County. <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson indicated that five years ago the Joint Law Enforcement Commission <br />became concerned with public safety communications in some areas of the County <br />because it was difficult to get a signal and there were voiceovers on the channels due to <br />the volume of traffic. <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson indicated the FTC authorized a whole new band of frequencies for law <br />enforcement and, after review, the Commission recommended going to 800 megahertz to <br />be able to get the full ability to communicate within different parts of the police <br />community in the metro area once it is fully implemented. He then explained that, once <br />implemented, police could speak to fire or the highway patrol directly rather than through <br />dispatch. <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson indicated the County sought special legislation to be allowed to levy for <br />funding the system as a separate line item on the tax statement to be able to issue bonds <br />and have a 10-year payback period. He .then said that the Legislature authorized 11 <br />counties, including Anoka County to levy for funding the system. " <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson described the purpose and terms of the Joint Powers Agreement. He then <br />pointed out that the County would spend $12.5 million and no more for the system. He <br />further indicated that the County expects to receive $3,000,000 in grants toward the <br />system and that will be used to buy down the levy amount. <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson explained that there are two parts to the system, infrastructure and radios. <br />He then said that the infrastructure is projected to cost a little more than $9,000,000 and <br />radios a little less than $3.5 million. <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson noted the Agreement says the County will build out the infrastructure and <br />any money left over will be used to buy radios. He then indicated the Agreement also <br />says that the County is making the initial buy and, after that time, further radio purchases <br />become the responsibility of the City as well as any user fees charged by the <br />Metropolitan Radio Board. <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson indicated that the City would be required to purchase the radios through the <br />County to maintain the standard. <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson indicated there was a paragraph in the document to cover the return of <br />unused funds bonded for the record system. <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson indicated that the numbers in Exhibit A are not exact and noted that the <br />money left over after putting in the infrastructure should be just under $2.5 million and <br /> <br />Page 2 of 15 <br />