[0:09] of the Commissioner's Court of Hood
County, Texas. Today is Monday, March
[0:13] 9th, 2026. It's 9:00 a.m. and we're in
the central jury room of the Ralph H.
[0:17] Walton Jr. Justice Center at 1200 West
Pearl Street in Granberry, Texas.
[0:24] Uh,
you want to give the invocation this
[0:27] morning, please? Mr. Wilson,
>> pray with me, please.
[0:34] Our most gracious heavenly father, we're
thankful for the many blessings you have
[0:38] given each of us
in [clears throat] our lives. We ask
[0:42] that you be with each of us now as we go
about the business for the county
[0:48] that we may make the decisions that are
in the best interest of all.
[0:53] Continue thy blessings upon us. Bless
this court in Christ's name. Amen.
[0:57] » Amen.
[1:00] flagged
[1:03] flag of the United States of America and
to the republic for which it stands. One
[1:09] nation
indivisible with liberty and justice for
[1:14] all.
>> I pledge to the great state of Texas.
[1:17] Honor the Texas flag. I aliance to the
Texas one state
[1:24] one and indivisible.
>> Okay.
[1:29] Okay. The first item of business
is to receive presentations from and
[1:35] conduct questions and answers with
shortlisted vendors in response to RFQ
[1:41] 20264
construction manager/owners
[1:46] agent. [clears throat] The court may
make an award at this time or at a later
[1:50] date. Mr. Glenn Tilman.
>> Good morning, judge, commissioners. Uh
[1:55] so yes, we're going to start with the uh
construction management owners agent
[1:58] services. Um and the first uh presenter
will be Southwest architects. We're
[2:05] going to ask uh all teams that have not
yet presented today if they would wait
[2:09] out in the out in the hallway with their
devices turned off
[2:14] uh to maintain fairness among the
groups. The sheriff will call you in one
[2:18] at a time whenever it's your whenever
it's your turn.
[2:24] Thank you, sir.
>> Good morning.
[2:28] » Good morning. Let's wait until everybody
gets out. Give a few minutes.
[2:33] » How are you doing?
[2:44] How you doing?
[3:06] Ready
[3:11] to start?
Excuse me.
[3:16] » Yes, sir. Go ahead. Okay. Go ahead.
Begin. Are you ready, Christine?
[3:23] » No, we're good. Thank you. Good morning.
My name is Jeff Huffinger with Southwest
[3:28] Architects. Um, Southwest Architects.
It's located in Crescent, Texas. We've
[3:35] been in business since 1985.
We've represented counties throughout
[3:40] the state. Uh we've done over 35 jail
facilities. And the first thing you're
[3:45] thinking to yourself is we're not trying
to hire an architect. I know you're not.
[3:50] Wayne is a good friend of mine. He's a
great architect. And it just so happens
[3:54] when you were trying to get an
architect, I was pretty busy. So at the
[3:57] time, I didn't think it was prudent for
me to get outside my comfort zone. But
[4:04] as this situation has developed, I just
felt like it was important to reach out
[4:10] to the court. I'm a local guy. I'm
actually semi-retired now. I'm not going
[4:14] to lie to you. Uh after 41 years of
chasing work from all four corners of
[4:20] the state. It's time for me to kind of
slow down. Just it happens. Okay. And I
[4:25] guess I've been blessed enough that I
can do that. But I saw an opportunity
[4:30] here for something for me to work within
the community that I shop in. We eat
[4:36] here. My we live literally one mile on
the other side of the county line. And
[4:41] if somebody asks where I'm from, I'm
from Cranberry. I'm not from Fort Worth.
[4:44] I'm not from Benrook. I'm from
Granberry. And at the end of the day,
[4:48] that's that's the way my wife and I
decided in 2006 to relocate out here.
[4:54] and I just really have enjoyed it. Um,
the bottom line is is as I've went
[5:00] through the process and read all the
documents that you can read online, I've
[5:05] got enjoy visiting with a few of you
before the RFQ came out and uh and I
[5:11] will mention this, that is the most
thorough RFQ in my career. I'm I don't
[5:18] know if you wrote it by yourself, but
that was absolutely spoton. Okay, spot
[5:24] on. Now, I've I've I like I said, I can
tell you about all the counties I've
[5:29] worked for. Wise County in this area,
Somerville, Wise, Young, uh, Bossi,
[5:35] Corel. I just finished a courthouse in
Corel. Just finished a jail expansion in
[5:39] Corell. Um,
Weise County did in 1996,
[5:46] I believe it was. The irony of that was
is I was challenged there to add on to a
[5:52] jail that was 100% full and that while
we were going to do this addition, it
[5:58] was going to stay 100% full. Well, that
challenge came back. We spent a lot of
[6:03] extra time master plan, which is one of
the things that I'm really going to push
[6:07] for is a long-term master plan. They
wanted that jail to last 30 years. We
[6:12] added on 230 beds. It's
it is currently 50% occupied. Okay,
[6:21] that's what you want. You want you want
your jail to last longer than your your
[6:25] your uh bond program. Uh and when I was
looking at all the presentation stuff
[6:32] and some very interesting uh ways to
look at it, the the accountants that did
[6:38] the analysis, the the jail commission
and that's two years old. Now, one of
[6:45] the concerns I had when I was looking at
it is it's two years old. I've seen a
[6:51] lot more explos I I drive that road and
thank God for the bypass now. You know,
[6:57] I know the traffic volume is greatly
increasing. So, I know that we have
[7:02] become not a retirement community but a
community where with industry with with
[7:08] uh re commercial retail everything. So,
it's growing, which is going to grow
[7:13] your issues with the uh the jail long
term. And when I looked at a 160 bed
[7:20] addition to a 192 beds, I went, "Okay,
their peak was 29.
[7:27] My quick averaging of their last 6
months is 230. We had 160 to 192. We're
[7:34] at 350." Right? Well, if you take the 40
odd that he's housing out currently, add
[7:41] that to 92, we're already at 250. Jail
Commission recommends at 80%
[7:48] capacity that you start considering a
new program. Well, at 282, you're going
[7:55] to be at your 80% capacity. So I just
challenged this court, the department
[8:02] that we put together a team and that
team is is supported by commissioners.
[8:09] Always like to have two commissioners on
every team on the team. The sheriff's
[8:14] office, IT, the clerk, and also the
maintenance department. And I'm I didn't
[8:21] get a chance to get with a sheriff
because the RFQ came out beforehand. But
[8:25] at the end of the day, we meet very
regularly with all my clients. I've done
[8:31] this. The keys to a successful project
is the team and being accountable for
[8:38] every step of the process. Uh and quite
frankly, in the booklet I gave you, I've
[8:44] given you a milestone outline that I've
used for 30 years. And in that milestone
[8:50] outlay, you'll see how that team
responds at every single milestone of
[8:56] the jail commission from pre-bond at uh
schematic design. That team puts
[9:02] together a a very very thorough cost
estimate. Now, I'm also of the opinion
[9:08] that we should have a construction
manager on board right now. should have
[9:12] been six months ago because you can get
a construction manager to go to work for
[9:18] this county for literally free to work
with your architect and work with you as
[9:24] the owner and develop a detailed cost
estimate. And that's the start of the
[9:29] project. And at every single milestone,
it's updated and it's kept kept very
[9:37] thorough. And by doing that, we keep
this court informed monthly. how this
[9:42] project's going, how it's developing.
But but at the first, like I said, I'm
[9:47] coming, this whole process is coming in
after the bond election. It's just like
[9:52] I was looking at when I was talking
about the numbers, I was looking at some
[9:56] challenges that I've dealt with in the
past similar to that. And so what we've
[10:02] learned is we as a team can create
alternates at the very start of a
[10:09] project and track that cost potential
through the point where we submit the
[10:16] project out to bid. And if we're
tracking those alternates, this court
[10:20] has options that might
en enhance your return on your
[10:25] investment. A good example is I I
believe when I just reviewed real
[10:30] quickly the schematic, it 48 bit
expansion. Well, based on everybody's
[10:37] recommendation, that's still 48 beds
short. So, why not look at that
[10:42] possibility of that expansion in the
original scope as an alternate? I've
[10:48] actually done it where we built the
shelves and then if we were under
[10:52] budget, we finished out the bedrooms
outside the box thinking at the start of
[10:58] these projects will make your return on
your investment
[11:03] maximized. And remember, I started in
this business doing jails at $160 a
[11:09] foot. They're not 160 a foot now. you
know, we're lo we're closer to the 700
[11:15] range, but at the end of the day, um
construction costs are going up
[11:20] everywhere from 6 to 8% a year.
And anything we can plan now,
[11:28] even if it's just doing the
infrastructure for our MA, if we could
[11:32] create a long-term master plan,
everything we do today will save us in
[11:37] the future. and god forbid you was was
to ever complete a construction on a
[11:43] project and five years later you're
having to look at doing it again. I much
[11:49] rather look at a project forward
thinking at the start and everybody
[11:54] understands the
necessities of numbers and money.
[12:00] But if you're looking forward now, look
what benefit it'll give a future court
[12:07] and you might be the one stabbing to
deal with that in the future. So all I'm
[12:10] saying is costs are started at the very
start of a project and the way to
[12:16] contain those costs is to have a very
thorough master plan and follow through
[12:22] with the master plan through the whole
process keeping the teams working,
[12:27] keeping the court informed all the way
up to the point where it goes out to bid
[12:33] and then where there's no surprises. Um,
in all my years I've been over budget
[12:38] one project and it was during the
pandemic and I told the court it was
[12:42] going to happen. It does. It did. But at
the end of the day that's because we
[12:47] pre-planned even that and failed. I hate
to admit it but it did. But if you take
[12:53] if you take a 48 career year career and
you have one bust,
[12:59] I'm I'm pretty proud of it. So another
form of how we're going to maintain cost
[13:05] controls is I believe that architect or
this representative should be on the
[13:10] site every week. Okay. And I'm going to
propose a step contract. At the first,
[13:16] it'll be heavy. Helping develop master
plans, helping develop costs, help
[13:21] developing all the cost controls,
getting the construction manager on
[13:25] board, coordinating with the architect,
working together, and bringing back to
[13:30] this court a good solid estimate. Then,
as we go into the phase where the
[13:36] architect is spending his time doing all
the construction documents, hey, you
[13:41] don't need to be paying somebody to do
nothing. monthly update and I would I
[13:47] would perform those monthly updates and
keep the court informed of how it's
[13:51] going with the architect meeting with
the sheriff and and the team and then
[13:56] presenting to the court once a month and
then when construction starts it could
[14:02] be every day um 17 miles away okay other
than taking my granddaughter to school I
[14:09] have no responsibilities hardly anymore
I've limited my my exposure to the
[14:15] industry, but I would expect once once
it starts going vertical, I'd be here
[14:20] every day and I'd have a team meeting
once a week and and that team meeting
[14:26] wouldn't necessarily always include the
architect because I'm not familiar with
[14:31] your contract with him, but I would meet
with a contractor. I meet with the subs
[14:37] the representatives from the court
representatives from the so maintenance
[14:42] very important to have maintenance guy
if he's if he's in the house or if he's
[14:46] countywide because if he understands how
that pipes are run he understands how to
[14:52] fix them we don't wait till the end so
we would be meeting every week we would
[14:58] thoroughly discuss the budget and
schedules uh
[15:03] time is money at the end of the day and
everybody makes more money if they keep
[15:07] on time. That's what we're going to do.
I I'm I'm I'm not shy about it. I carry
[15:13] around a book with me. I have every
single subcontractor's name from their
[15:17] foreman, the owner, and and anybody
involved in those projects and they're
[15:23] welcome to call me night and day up to
seven and I to answer questions. I don't
[15:30] want anybody ever to be held up because
we aren't there. You know, that's the
[15:35] bottom line because times money to that
subcontractor. And you build a
[15:39] relationships with those subcontractors
and contractors, it's it's golden. They
[15:44] go bend over backwards for you. And so I
I carry around 10 years of phone
[15:49] numbers. I just had a call the other day
from a a jail I did in Wheeler, Texas,
[15:55] and they had an issue with their force
man, and they couldn't remember exactly
[16:00] where it was. Well, one, I create a set
of documents that go into the clerk's
[16:04] office that nobody can touch. And the
sheriff gets a complete set of those
[16:09] documents for at his at his facility.
But at the end of the day, I pulled it
[16:13] up on my computer, called him up, told
him exactly where it was, got it
[16:17] resolved. I'm available. I'm available
in the future. And as this project goes
[16:23] on and on, I'm very familiar with how
the jail commission standards are going
[16:28] and what they're expecting and how
they're expecting it. We're one of the
[16:32] three architects that do these jails in
the state as a general rule. Uh, and
[16:36] like I said, we're good friends with
plane and and at the end of the day, I
[16:41] understand the jail commissioning and
once it's commissioned, I have a very
[16:45] thorough maintenance checklist that I
propose that the sheriff keep in house
[16:51] with his maintenance people which deals
with items weekly, monthly, quarterly,
[16:56] semian, annually. And by maintaining
those items and and being accountable to
[17:02] the sheriff who's accountable to the
court when it comes to the spring and
[17:06] summer when you go to be uh doing your
budgets for maintenance, he sees where
[17:11] he's had problems. It helps. But more
importantly,
[17:17] you as a court are observing that he's
doing his best to maintain the facility
[17:22] that you blessed him with to have. And
at the end of the day, that's so
[17:26] important. The long term, I mean, I've
done jails 25 years ago. You can still
[17:31] walk in and they're still just like a
hospital. The floors are kept beautiful,
[17:36] the painting is checked on, and the
graffiti is taken care of. And at the
[17:41] end of the day, that's what we're here
for. Um,
[17:47] » finger,
I have a couple of questions.
[17:50] » Yes, ma'am. Let him have his time.
>> Okay. I didn't know if he was
[17:54] » I I I'm I'm Yeah, I'm done. I'm I'm I'm
I'm happy that I've submitted everything
[17:59] I can to you.
>> Mh. Commissioner Wilson, why don't you
[18:02] go ahead?
>> Go ahead.
[18:05] » Did the job in Wheeler County?
>> I mean, what was the capacity that you
[18:11] added?
>> Uh it was a new construction.
[18:13] » New How many?
>> 64.
[18:16] » 64.
>> 64.
[18:18] » Okay.
>> Yes, sir. Um, I'm I've been in my career
[18:22] I've been pretty well known for like
140 less. That's been my bread and
[18:30] butter to speak. Um, at the end of the
day, all the rules on the jail
[18:35] commissions are are the same for every
jail, though. So, I'm very I'm very
[18:39] confident. Like I said, did I did a
large one for uh Weise County and I've
[18:45] actually did a planned one for Corell
County. What about at Parington? At
[18:49] Parington Alche County.
>> Uh that is a 48 bed.
[18:54] » I mean
>> 48 bed sir.
[18:56] » Okay.
[19:00] » What years were those?
>> Go ahead.
[19:03] » Wheeler and
Wheeler's about 10 years ago. A tree was
[19:07] uh six maybe six years ago. Something
like that.
[19:14] So, is there anyone else that would be
assisting you in your firm or is it just
[19:17] you?
>> Yes, ma'am. I have I have a I have an
[19:19] architect that that works with me, uh,
Russell Baldino. He actually just got
[19:25] his license in the last 6 months. He's
been in uh construction for eight years.
[19:31] He actually brings a pretty important
function in terms of cost estimating.
[19:37] Uh, I've been involved so much with the
construction. I pretty well know what
[19:42] mechanical, electrical, all the
different as u aspects of a jail cost.
[19:47] I'm pretty very familiar with it. But he
actually has the the he uses blue beam
[19:52] on it for example. And he'll be
assisting me. U there'll be there'll be
[19:55] a few times that I'll need him down here
because I've got to do something or be
[20:00] somewhere but as a general royal it'll
be me.
[20:03] » And where's he located?
>> Uh in fourth. Okay.
[20:10] So, you mentioned this and I think we
went over this a few months ago when we
[20:14] were discussing on putting out the RFP,
but could you kind of go over the
[20:20] different roles of the owner's agent,
the construction manager, and the
[20:25] architect?
>> Yes. Uh, this would actually be kind of
[20:29] unique. Uh but the architect's role and
I've always assumed it as well as Wayne
[20:35] does. Our fiduciary responsibility is to
this court and and his main goal is
[20:42] going to be the design, the programming,
the design and with the input from the
[20:48] sheriff's office, the court, uh your
representative. Uh this will be, like I
[20:54] said, unique. if if you chose to hire an
architect to be your representative only
[21:00] from the standpoint of knowledge though
I would never try to override I
[21:05] understand not only the ethics of it but
also I understand uh the way the your
[21:13] contract is going to be with your
architect what his responsibilities are
[21:17] versus your responsibilities and I would
represent your responsibilities in that
[21:22] contract and he would represent the
architects But he and I can speak on the
[21:28] same level of experience and uh
education which will benefit in the long
[21:35] run because not only uh are we both
architects but very experienced in the
[21:42] jail standards. The key on this project
is the jail standards. Everything about
[21:47] this project, you know, god forbid these
inmates have more rights than the
[21:52] jailers that have to maintain them. So,
it's our goal to always create a
[21:57] atmosphere where we minimize their
contact with the jailers and that's what
[22:03] we'll look at. Now, on the front side of
this thing in the master plan, I think I
[22:08] would bring more to the table to make
sure that everybody's thinking outside
[22:13] the box. They might not all be good
things, but we need to think outside the
[22:17] box. We need to think long term. I mean,
uh, I I'm I'm I know I harped earlier on
[22:23] our numbers, but the numbers tell the
truth. And if our growth is where it is,
[22:28] and if our numbers are going to be where
they are, we're going to have only a
[22:32] short gap of
being able to do this and and uh perform
[22:39] without having to be back in the same
box again. So thinking outside the box
[22:43] on the front side, you know, Wayne and I
have been friends for years and years
[22:46] and I know he would respect the opinion
and review it and same way with
[22:51] alternatives. Not a lot of my colleagues
have looked into that kind of stuff, but
[22:56] I've actually done it and it works and
but here again, it's thinking outside
[23:01] the box.
>> And then the construction manager, how
[23:04] does that fit into
>> the construction manager will be a
[23:07] vendor to this court and to this county?
that that person will align as a u an a
[23:15] vendor to the court and their
responsibility would be to take this
[23:20] project, put it out on the street,
manage a construction schedule, manage
[23:25] the bidding, bring that bidding back to
the court, let the court review it, and
[23:31] prepare a guaranteed max contract, which
is what we would manage that guaranteed
[23:37] max contract. And we would have uh uh
contingencies built in. They would have
[23:42] contingencies built in. They have to get
authorization on the contingencies. The
[23:47] court has to authorize the owner
contingencies. But managing that
[23:51] contract,
u I hate change orders. I would rather
[23:56] spend an extra month making sure that
everything is ready to go than signing a
[24:01] change order. I I'll be honest with you,
I I'm very difficult about change
[24:05] orders. And uh when somebody when a
court asks because say we're we're in
[24:11] good budget and they decide u you have
needs and you have wants and you have
[24:17] desires and maybe there's a want that
they have and you're under budget and
[24:21] the court sees fit to consider it. Then
we go out and we verify those things.
[24:26] With my extensive background with
subcontractors through the years, I can
[24:30] check somebody's number in a heartbeat
and that's what'll benefit the long run
[24:34] of it. But as far as a change order
goes, change orders, um are considered
[24:40] mistakes in a lot of cases. And so, uh
accountability in that team is going to
[24:45] be very important. But I think when you
when you have that team concept and
[24:49] you're meeting regularly, u
accountability is a lot easier to
[24:53] assume.
>> So, does the owner's agent manage the
[24:57] construction manager?
>> Yes, ma'am.
[25:01] Ma manage them as in their contract.
>> Oversee them. just oversee them. Yes,
[25:05] ma'am. It would be it would be our
responsibility to go out on that site. U
[25:11] they have quality control people. They
have project managers. They have
[25:15] superintendent and they have foremans.
You have your representative that goes
[25:19] out and meets with all those. Whereas
their project manager is going to be
[25:24] kind of their head and down from there.
But as a typical rule in those team
[25:29] meetings, we all visit together.
So what are the top risks that you see
[25:36] for our project?
>> Top risk
[25:41] » and how would you mitigate them? I think
the top risk right now that I would like
[25:46] to at least everybody get on board on is
let's make sure that one our
[25:52] infrastructures put in place for our
master plan to go forward in the future
[25:57] to look at any alternatives that we can
at the present time and how those cost
[26:04] savings or cost can be associated with
that long-term project. For example, uh
[26:11] making sure the sewer lines in this
expansion are designed for the future
[26:16] expansion. We don't want to revisit that
10 years from now. Make sure that the
[26:21] fire protection setup, the fire alarm,
the security electronics,
[26:27] all those major infrastructures
need to be addressed now. So, when you
[26:34] need to add on, I used to use a story
about the husband and wife that had two
[26:39] kids in a three-bedroom house, and then
God blessed them with another child, and
[26:44] it was a lot easier to add on a bedroom
than it was a kitchen and a dining room.
[26:48] Make make the infrastructure in place.
Okay, bedrooms are cheap
[26:55] in this world. Please understand, take
that relative. But but I want to make
[27:00] sure that and how I mitigate it is the
master planning of the start and working
[27:05] with the architect and the so and the
court to make sure they understand the
[27:10] ramifications of what we're doing
because it's important to be able to
[27:14] communicate that in advance with
numbers. I'm not one of these guys that
[27:19] brings a problem without a solution. You
need a solution if you got a problem.
[27:25] job at Wheeler County and Bossi County.
Both did you come in under budget or
[27:29] overbudget?
>> Under budget, sir.
[27:32] » Both of them.
>> All of them.
[27:33] » All of I've done I've been blessed. Uh
matter of fact, in Corell, we were under
[27:39] budget enough on the jail expansion that
they got to redo the electronics in the
[27:43] existing jail.
And uh
[27:47] Oh. And and I'd be lying if I tell you
how much, but I know that we we've been
[27:51] consistent with our budgets and
underbudgets. And I'm not one of these
[27:55] guys that makes the budget crazy, so it
makes me look good at the end. That
[27:59] budget is presented by the construction
manager at the start, and I keep them
[28:04] accountable through the project. Now,
there is a lot of items that will go
[28:08] into this budget that the construction
manager has nothing to do with.
[28:12] thirdparty testing, engineering
surveying, those kind of items that
[28:17] we'll manage inhouse. FFN and things
like that. We'll manage those in house.
[28:21] We'll also we'll also um get the numbers
for that. So, it's there's more than
[28:28] just the construction cost.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[28:32] » As you you mentioned, this is going to
be a project where the jail is
[28:37] operational while the construction is is
going on. So, walk, you've said you've
[28:42] done this before, so walk through a
project where you've handled that phase
[28:47] construction and how did you address the
security and compliance issues?
[28:52] » Good, great question. Um,
well, I I can tell you about Weise
[28:57] County real easy. Uh, we made temporary
doors. Uh, worked with the So back then,
[29:04] I think M. Uh, Sheriff, weren't you over
there at the time when we built the
[29:10] jail?
>> Okay. For some reason, I was thinking
[29:13] you were over there. It had a different
capacity, but anyway, we created we we
[29:18] created uh uh zones where the inmates
stayed within the facility while we were
[29:23] working. And any of our contractors that
had to work in like the kitchens and
[29:27] processing, they have we have a a
protocol that we work out with the
[29:32] sheriff where they can bring tools in
and out. we can work with and without
[29:37] trustees. Uh scheduling it that weekly
meeting that the sheriff or his chief
[29:42] deputy or his jail admins at those where
you discuss what we're going to do next
[29:47] week. So we've got a plan in place for
for the inmate to be uh contained
[29:54] through that process. And it's not as
difficult as it sounds because remember
[29:59] they're incarcerated. So it's not like
they wander in the hallways. But at the
[30:03] end of that age, you still have your
life safety systems you have to deal
[30:06] with. You have to deal with your how
you're going to deal with if you have a
[30:10] fire alarm. But those are the items that
we work out with the sheriff and his
[30:14] team that that they have forms that they
actually deal with with the jail
[30:20] commission where they do practices on
evacuating an saying got sick and we had
[30:25] to evacuate him ambulance. All that
stuff we take into consideration and in
[30:30] that meeting we discuss it and then if
we need to have additional meetings with
[30:34] the jail admin or staff we would go in
there and take care of that too. But
[30:39] that's a weekly thing that has to be uh
prosecuted.
[30:48] » So how do you ensure complete
independence as an an advisory agent?
[30:54] complete independence
>> without so you you have
[30:59] relationships with the other
subcontractors. So how do you ensure
[31:03] complete
>> well first of all we don't know who any
[31:08] of the contractors are. So I being
hypothetical uh
[31:15] my loyalty has always been to my clients
and if I'm the architect I have the same
[31:20] fiduciary responsibility I would as a
manager for you and therefore uh there's
[31:27] you know the architect's going to draw
those plans up and I am going to along
[31:32] with him are going to ensure that those
construction documents are followed.
[31:39] That's it. There's no there's no gray
area in that. Now, I will tell you this
[31:46] that through my career, I've learned
that I'm not the smartest cantaloupe in
[31:50] the pasture because sometimes the subs
understand something a little bit better
[31:54] than you do. And we as professionals
have to understand that if he's got a
[32:00] better solution,
then we might be looking at that
[32:06] solution. And if it saves the county
money, that's even a bonus. But at the
[32:10] end of the day, we have to be open to
that. That's why we meet every week
[32:14] because like I said, I've learned the
day I quit learning is probably the
[32:20] first day you're going to find dirt on
my face.
[32:23] » Have you ever declined work due to a
potential conflict?
[32:26] » Yes, ma'am.
How did you
[32:29] » I I uh I had a public client that did
not want me to
[32:36] um
watch over the construction. They just
[32:39] wanted me to draw the plans, get them
approved, get them a permit. And uh I
[32:45] won't do that. Um I've been blessed 41
years. I haven't had to call a lawyer. I
[32:51] ain't going to start. It's getting way
too old for that. But at the end of the
[32:55] day, being there on that site every
week, that accountability to my client,
[33:01] to the contractors is super important.
And uh when they told me that they
[33:07] didn't want to pay for that, I said that
you might need to go to the lumber yard.
[33:15] » You already you already talked a little
bit about your budget and your cost
[33:19] management. So I have that question, but
you you covered that.
[33:24] um in the other ones too. So I think
that's
[33:28] I think you covered pretty much all the
things that I had written down.
[33:33] » Like I said, I'm an architect. You got
some very good firms out here. I I
[33:39] totally understand that and they every
day they do project management for
[33:44] school districts, maybe some counties
and stuff. But what I believe I can
[33:49] bring to the table is more knowledge of
the jail commission.
[33:55] Being that, you know, I take a lot of
pride in where I live and work and play.
[34:00] Uh I don't think that can be replicated.
And uh
[34:06] » I I don't have a bunch of fancy forms.
My form is going to be is every week
[34:10] you're going to get an email from me,
everybody on the court, even the the
[34:14] members that are at the meeting and keep
them updated. And once a month I'm going
[34:18] to come in here and I'm going to give
the court a very thorough 15minute
[34:23] throwdown of the month where we're at
and where we're going. That's my plan.
[34:28] » Okay. I did I did have one other
question. Do you have other projects
[34:31] going on right now and how would you
prioritize Hood County within those?
[34:36] » Good question. Uh tomorrow I will finish
my third remodel for Hempill County. Um
[34:44] [snorts] I'm going up there this
evening. uh to do a final punch list. Um
[34:50] I've worked on their uh museum, their
pavilion, and then another project at
[34:56] their pavilion. I'm just finishing those
up for them. Um
[35:02] really, that's only thing I have going
right now. Um I do, like I said, I get
[35:08] calls for some consulting, but the
priority I have is for Hood County. I
[35:13] mean literally uh you know um I moved
out of the big office buildings like
[35:19] seven years ago because in 41 years or
back then it was 35 years I'd never had
[35:24] a client come to my office. I drive from
to Texas to Crane Yokum Pitton Santo
[35:32] County. I drive all over the state but
none of my clients come to my office. So
[35:37] I moved to the country for a reason for
the peace and quiet just like I my
[35:41] office is. So yeah, my my uh my goal is
this would probably be the end of my
[35:48] career, be honest with you.
>> Thank you.
[35:50] » It is what it is.
[35:56] » Thank you for your time. Enjoyed it.
>> Good presentation.
[36:10] Next one is kitchen. CM
[36:15] Kitchel.
[36:29] Fact that he's close is good.
[36:40] Good morning.
>> Good morning.
[36:42] » Y'all come on up here. Yard Kitchell,
CM, right?
[36:47] » Yes, sir.
>> Deal.
[36:50] How are you doing?
>> Good. Ron Massenill. Nice to meet you,
[36:55] Seth. Nice to meet you.
[36:59] » All right. Good.
[37:02] Seth Akan Cameron Glass. How are you
doing?
[37:06] » Good. Good.
>> Good. All right.
[37:30] Oh yeah.
[38:12] Well, based on yesterday, I'm just glad
we're not an hour late.
[38:18] [laughter]
[38:23] Y'all let us know when
>> Oh, okay. Go ahead.
[38:26] » All right. Great.
Judge, commissioners,
[38:32] sheriff,
thank you for having us today. We're
[38:36] we're really proud to be here and
representing Kitell CM. CM stands for
[38:42] capital expenditure managers. It's how
our company was started and uh for 40
[38:50] years uh we have been managing capital
expenditures which is very critical for
[38:55] this project. As you know, our mission
is to be stewards of this project.
[39:02] Stewardship is a key element of this.
And how we will get there is we have to
[39:06] build trust. We have to build trust with
the team, build trust with you, build
[39:11] trust with Wayne and his team, build
trust with the sheriff's office and his
[39:15] folks. From trust comes commitment,
accountability, hard conversations, and
[39:22] results.
With that, I'd like to turn it over to
[39:27] Cameron Glass. Hi,
>> Cameron Glass. I'm with Kitch as well.
[39:30] I'll be your project director.
>> Microphone, please. Is the green light
[39:34] on?
>> Okay. Cameron Glass uh with Kitchell as
[39:38] well. I'll be your project director. Uh
I have a 25 year uh background in
[39:42] history in doing these exact type of
projects, prisons, jails, courts,
[39:46] police, and juvenile. That's what I've
spent uh 25 years of my career on. And
[39:50] I'm excited to be here today and talk
about your project.
[39:54] Yeah. And I'm Tyler Cook. I'll be your
senior project manager on site. Um I've
[39:58] spent the last decade doing justice
projects across the country as well as
[40:01] the last several years working with uh
local government, especially counties
[40:04] here in the DFW Metroplex. So I'm very
um understanding of what it's like to
[40:09] work for a local government and and the
rules and regulations with that.
[40:14] » All right. This is a very busy slide,
but I want to break it down with a
[40:17] little story.
So Kitchell's big company, medium-sized
[40:22] company, but we have a personal
approach. We really do. And I'll give
[40:28] you an example. We've got a lot of
resources at our disposal. And these
[40:32] resources provide value to you and give
give you this little story. Tyler and I
[40:38] are having lunch in Ellis County with
right before our commissioner's court.
[40:42] And there was an item on the
commissioner's court that the elevator
[40:45] contractor that was modernizing the
elevator in the jail elevators
[40:49] was trying to charge $80,000
because there was an electrical issue
[40:55] and a and an issue with shortcircuit uh
current ratings. Too much information,
[41:01] but anyway, they were very concerned
about it. One of the commissioners was
[41:05] like, "There's just no way. This is
$80,000. It's holding up these elevators
[41:09] getting going." I stepped out of lunch.
I think I was eating meatloaf that day
[41:14] and uh I called our electrical engineer.
He walked him through it. Um they pulled
[41:20] that from the agenda. 3 days later we
had a plan for them. Um we got
[41:25] electrician in there, put in a couple
fusible disconnects and they were off
[41:29] and running. Elevator contractor
all all the road blocks were removed.
[41:34] These are the kind of resources,
reachback resources that we have at our
[41:38] disposal that will bring value to you
and this project. Um, next slide.
[41:45] Like I said, capital expenditure
managers, we got our foundation doing
[41:50] justice work. We've done justice work uh
across the country as well as uh here in
[41:55] Texas. So, don't let the numbers scare
you because we have a like this is your
[42:02] team. Um, we're here. We're not
corporate people or anything like that.
[42:06] Um, we're here for a personal touch.
>> So, let's uh let's talk about your
[42:12] project a little bit. Uh, we have the
luxury of going down and uh we we've
[42:16] toured your existing jail. Uh, we've
even seen where the expansion is going
[42:19] to happen. Um, and I think uh on our
side, one of the largest risks that we
[42:24] see on your project is going to be how
do you deliver this jail within an
[42:27] active facility. Um, it's going to be
key that the facility continues to
[42:32] operate while this project is going on.
Uh, if you look at the back of your
[42:36] placemat that's in front of you, I'll
just kind of jott it down some ideas and
[42:40] thoughts uh that we've uh kind of pulled
together over our history of doing jail
[42:44] projects. Uh part of this is going to be
just a lot of a lot of communication, a
[42:50] lot of communication, a lot of planning,
working with the uh sheriff's department
[42:54] and jail staff to uh understand when
utilities need to be disconnected and
[42:59] reconnected for this new facility. We
want to minimize downtime within that
[43:03] jail. Uh the security electronics and
the detention components as you get
[43:07] ready to install the new system and plug
it on, turn it on, you want to minimize
[43:12] downtime as well. All those doors that
are operated electronically over there
[43:15] are going to have to be keyed as well.
So, we're going to want to have a plan
[43:19] in place for all that. We can't be
impacting the operations all that often.
[43:23] We can't be impacting the staff. Uh as
well as there's an impact on those that
[43:27] are housed in there as well. Uh they
don't have any place to go. Uh and when
[43:31] it gets loud, when it gets noisy and
vibrations start to happen, they get
[43:34] cranky and that's uh it's not always
great for your staff. So uh again just
[43:38] good plans in place, good ways to uh
mitigate some of the challenges that
[43:42] will come. Uh understanding different
areas of security the way your site's
[43:46] set out, the way the addition uh is
going to be. There's a great opportunity
[43:50] to have some areas outside of the secure
perimeter where uh the staff uh the
[43:55] contractor can come and get his work
done freely as he needs to. And then
[43:59] we're going to have to determine with
the sheriff's department what's inside
[44:01] security. When do tools have to be
checked in and out? I've worked on
[44:05] projects where screws had to be counted.
If you took five screws in and you only
[44:09] installed four, they want to make sure
you have one when you come back out. So,
[44:12] there's a lot of planning in place and a
lot of things that need to be discussed
[44:15] and talked about to make sure that your
jail can continue operating while this
[44:19] work uh is going on. So, um that's what
we see as your biggest risk as you look
[44:23] at the work that we want to provide to
you. Uh as Seth kind of said earlier,
[44:26] Kitchell's a full service uh owner rep,
construction project manager. uh we see
[44:31] us involved in uh pre-construction
services with you all all the way
[44:35] through closeout. Um as we look at the
services though, you know, it's talking
[44:39] about different delivery methods for you
all. What are the pros behind all the
[44:42] delivery methods that are available to
hire a contractor? Additionally, it's
[44:46] understanding what types of contractors
should actually be on your jail project.
[44:50] They're not not every contractor should
be should be working on your project.
[44:55] So, it's helping set some of the minimum
qualifications to make sure that you end
[44:58] up with the right uh firms in place to
help deliver your project successfully.
[45:03] Additionally, we've got in-house cost
estimators and schedulers. So, it's
[45:07] getting a budget set early, making sure
that it's realistic, and also getting a
[45:12] schedule put together so we understand
when activities are going to happen so
[45:16] that we can help you minimize risks and
minimize some of the surprises uh for
[45:20] this project. Tyler's going to talk to
you about the rest of the services.
[45:25] » Yeah, thanks Cameron. So, just like uh
continuing on with what Cameron said
[45:29] about being a full service. So, as
construction starts, we'll have an a
[45:32] daily on-site presence on your project,
inspecting the work, u meeting with
[45:37] contractors, helping to problem solve.
If there's any roadblocks that arise,
[45:40] we'll be working with the architect,
with the contractor, with your staff,
[45:43] the sheriff to figure out the best means
to move forward at the most
[45:47] cost-effective price. And then if there
happens to be a change order, we always
[45:50] try to find solutions that don't cost
anything. But if there happens to be a
[45:54] change order, you know, we'll review
that change order, making sure that
[45:56] every dollar is accounted for. You know,
I understand this is taxpayer dollars,
[45:59] and so we need to make sure that we are
steadfast with their their money and
[46:03] making sure that we are accountable for
where every dollar is spent. Same with
[46:07] that, um we will also be reviewing pay
applications. So when the contractor
[46:10] submits for payment, we'll be checking
their work um against the schedule,
[46:13] against the work in the field um with
your staff to make sure that you guys
[46:17] feel that what is being paid is the
correct payment. And if there are any
[46:21] changes that need to be made, you know,
we'll negotiate that with the general
[46:24] contractor on your guys' behalf. And
then just like Cameron said, as we uh
[46:28] have those in-house um schedulers, we'll
also be monitoring the the general
[46:31] contractor schedule, making sure that
activities are aligning with what work
[46:35] is in the field. Um, and if there happen
to be any schedule delays, we'll work
[46:38] with the general contractor to help
alleviate those um, and make sure that
[46:42] they stay on time to deliver you guys a
quality project on time and in budget.
[46:46] And one thing that we do um, that kind
of sets Kish apart is every month we'll
[46:50] give you a report of the overall health
of the project. It will show the
[46:54] schedule of the project, where we're at,
um kind of kind of key activities that
[46:58] are coming up, where we are with cost
contingency, if we've had any change
[47:02] orders, overall budget, um and as well
as any risks that we foresee in the next
[47:06] couple of months on that project and
what we're doing to mitigate those risks
[47:10] and to keep the project moving in the
right direction. And then when all that
[47:14] construction is said and done, we're
here to help you guys with close out,
[47:16] helping you transition from a
construction zone to an occupied jail.
[47:21] And so we'll be helping with warranty
oversight, making sure that the on andm
[47:24] manuals are collected and given to your
facilities department, whoever is
[47:27] maintaining the facility, making sure
that they have an understanding of what
[47:31] is there now, what if there are any new
systems that might need training or, you
[47:36] know, new equipment, we'll make sure
that they're trained up on that and to
[47:39] make sure that they can take on this
facility for years to come.
[47:44] And understanding that the budget is is
very tight on this project, I wanted to
[47:48] take a moment and share a case study
with one of the counties that we've been
[47:50] working with um which is Kaufman County
just across the metroplex. Um we were
[47:55] able to come in kind of late to the
game. Um they were kind of in a in a
[47:58] situation where they had let go of a
general contractor and was way over
[48:02] budget and so they brought us in and we
were able to kind of take a a pause to
[48:06] the project, take a proactive approach
and we were able to actually save them
[48:09] 15% on their overall budget. uh we were
able to come in and you know figure out
[48:14] what the actual scope of work is, work
with the architect to provide more
[48:17] detailed drawings. So that way when we
put the project back out to bid, we had
[48:21] a a better scope definition which got
rid of any assumptions that the general
[48:25] contractor had to make. Um also early
procurement is always um something we
[48:30] find very successful. Uh they had some
ARPA funding that they had to um spend.
[48:34] So we were able to actually order their
HVAC equipment ahead of time which
[48:37] helped us on the schedule. Um, I know
that data centers are kind of buying up
[48:42] all of the resources right now. So,
anything that we can do to get ahead of
[48:45] that, um, helps tremendously. And then
when proposals come in, you know, we we
[48:50] need to review those quickly and get
them approved or, you know, rejected and
[48:55] figure out a path forward.
>> What year was that? Kaufman County,
[49:01] » we are actually just ready to finish
that in May this year.
[49:07] » All right. Thanks, Tyler. Um, that was
our slides that we had. I kind of have
[49:12] some closing comments, but uh, do you
want to do Q&A first and I can close
[49:18] after the Q&A?
>> Did you say fulltime onsite oversight?
[49:25] Tell me that. Is that full-time? Is that
from 7 to 5? You got somebody there?
[49:33] » You said full-time on-site oversight?
>> Yes, sir. So, we try to have somebody
[49:37] there. um whenever the construction site
is open. So, typically we try to keep
[49:41] construction sites open um depending on
schedule about the hours that the county
[49:45] is open. So, usually 8 to 5 and so we'll
have a representative on site full-time
[49:50] » coming where where's your staff located?
Where would they be coming from?
[49:54] » We have staff all throughout the DFW
Metroplex.
[49:57] » Okay. So, from Dallas or
>> Yeah. So, I live just south of Dallas.
[50:03] Uh we have some people in Fort Worth and
some people on the north side of Dallas
[50:06] as well.
>> Okay. So it's not not you three that
[50:11] will be here. It's somebody else on your
staff.
[50:15] » Yeah.
>> One of you three.
[50:16] » Yeah. So let me back up just a little
bit. So, ideally with this type of a
[50:22] quick, not not quick, but a fastm moving
expansion to an existing jail, I think
[50:28] it's in the owner's best interest to
have somebody there making sure that
[50:33] everything is is being controlled.
>> Um, however, we haven't met with you yet
[50:38] to decide if that's really the best
approach for you as well. So, we say
[50:42] that because that's kind of best
practice.
[50:45] » Um, you know, Tyler's in walks a
Hatchee. Uh Caleb's uh in between. Um is
[50:51] he in is he still in Benbrook?
>> Hazel.
[50:54] » Hazel. Um and you know Caleb's the guy
that we have in the uh in the proposal
[51:00] there that would be on site. Currently
he's he's on site uh in Ellis County. Uh
[51:06] they just opened a new district court
and uh two other new courtroom or one
[51:11] other new courtroom um in an occupied
facility. And so he was there. I mean,
[51:17] the judge said that if like he got if
there was a problem, he was going to put
[51:20] Tyler in contempt. And so Tyler was
there. And uh so yeah, we you know,
[51:27] you're you're going to see the the this
is your leadership team, Commissioner,
[51:32] » and Cameron's got decades of justice
experience. I've got decades of
[51:38] construction and and owner relation
experience.
[51:41] He's got a decade of of uh construction,
hands-on experience, and a lot of
[51:46] experience presenting to Kaufman County,
presenting to Ellis County in
[51:50] commissioner's courts, updates, things
like that. We're we're we're going to be
[51:54] involved, but the dayto-day guy that
you'll see is Caleb.
[51:57] » Caleb.
>> Okay. And he's in Ail.
[52:00] » Yes, he grew up in Ail. Um he wants to
move to Waka Hatchee, but uh he hasn't
[52:05] moved yet.
[52:09] » Yes.
Yeah. So, I've worked with Todd Little
[52:12] for going on three and a half years now.
>> Call him up.
[52:20] » Yes, sir.
>> Yep. Todd and I have worked very closely
[52:24] together. Worked with both of his chief
of staffs, um, Ryan and Eric. So, know
[52:29] them both very well.
>> Who you work with?
[52:34] » So, we work with the purchasing agent,
the facility director, and then Judge J.
[52:38] Jake Allen.
And then Ski, uh, Commissioner Ski
[52:42] Phillips.
>> And you could call that, too.
[52:48] » Who was that? You said it was Judge
Allen and Commissioner who?
[52:53] » Uh, Ski Phillips.
[52:58] » Yeah, that that project is uh wrapping
up here in the next couple months. uh
[53:03] they took their
original courthouse and they're
[53:07] repurposing it uh for commissioner's
court but also for administrative
[53:12] needs and it wasn't a full historic they
don't have a a beautiful courthouse like
[53:16] you all have um no offense to their
courthouse but it's just built in a
[53:21] different time and uh anyway that's
that's about to wrap up and uh again
[53:26] that that full kind of that on-site
presence has has really brought a lot of
[53:30] value and also brought a good value in
the in the in what that costs
[53:36] » about county. Did y'all do anything on
the Archer County Gilmer?
[53:41] » No, sir.
>> You didn't do anything on that jail?
[53:43] » No, sir.
>> Or courthouse?
[53:48] » No, sir.
>> How How does your firm ensure complete
[53:54] independence as an advisory agent
without affiliating with the
[53:59] architects, contractors, or subs?
[54:04] How do how do we how do we keep our
uh
[54:10] » independence?
>> No, no conflict. Yeah, absolutely. Um
[54:15] that's mission critical. I mean, we
represent you and your tax dollars and
[54:21] your your citizens tax dollars. There's
there's no conflict of interest with uh
[54:27] architects or GCs. I mean we couldn't we
couldn't do the work that we do if there
[54:31] was
[54:35] » you mentioned um
change orders. So what do you how do you
[54:41] manage those?
>> Yeah. Yeah. So when a problem is
[54:45] identified in the field um instead of
just having the contractor, you know,
[54:48] take reins and price it, we like to be
involved and understanding what the root
[54:52] of the the cause is and then we'll work
with the staff um the commit the county
[54:57] staff, architectural team and as well as
the general contractor to put all our
[55:01] heads together to find the best path
forward. When a change order is needed,
[55:05] um we will review that um against the
contract, against the specs, the plans,
[55:09] making sure that it is actual cost and
that it aligns with the contract. And
[55:14] then if need be, if we need to come and
present that change order for a change
[55:17] to the commissioner's court, we will. Um
contingency is your money. It's not our
[55:22] money. It needs to be approved by you
guys before we spend it. So the way I
[55:26] look at it is I don't have any money for
change orders unless you guys give me
[55:28] the permission to go ahead and make that
change.
[55:36] I think one other thing, Commissioner,
on uh change orders is
[55:41] working with uh Wayne and his team in
pre-construction.
[55:46] We'll do a real thorough review of of
the drawings and specs from a
[55:50] contractor's lens before it goes out to
bid. I mean, I've spent 30 years
[55:55] building stuff and been on the other
side of being a contractor for 23 of
[55:59] those years. and we'll look at that
stuff to uh tighten up the drawings as
[56:04] as he said and make sure that we get as
much uh RFIs and things out of them
[56:11] early as possible. Sometimes we hit
unforeseen conditions. You know, I think
[56:15] on this site we really got to study the
soil and make sure we got the right
[56:20] geotech engineer and we've got a really
good soils report and a good foundation
[56:24] design. um you know, we've got some
stuff going on in that area with the
[56:30] soil conditions. So, pretty much
everywhere. But you you just got to go
[56:34] into it eyes wide open. Um
>> you mentioned earlier that you thought
[56:39] that the biggest risk was that the jail
is operational while you're doing this,
[56:44] but it sounds like you just mentioned
another risk about the soil.
[56:47] » Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think uh the
jail operation is a short-term risk in
[56:56] terms of while the construction's going
on, the soil and, you know, underground
[57:02] piping and piping connections and things
like that. That's a long-term risk. You
[57:07] don't want to be here in 30 years, you
know. Well, you know, probably I know I
[57:12] probably won't be here in 30 years, but
um uh you know, and have have a new
[57:17] sheriff's like, man, I got all this, you
know, things going on in my jail. Like,
[57:21] we got to build it so that's
structurally sound for, you know, at
[57:26] least I don't know. I mean, most most
are 50. any other risk besides the doing
[57:32] the construction while the jail is
operational and the and the soil issues.
[57:37] » I think understanding your budget,
getting getting a good good estimate
[57:41] early. I know you probably throwing some
conceptual numbers together, but
[57:44] starting to get real estimates around
maybe what the concept design is that
[57:48] DRG is working on, understanding when
this could go out to bid, taking a
[57:52] really good look at the market to
understand maybe if there are uh tariff
[57:55] issues that might have an effect and an
impact on your project. So, I think
[57:59] budget, you know, unless unless you all
have a detailed cost estimate right now,
[58:03] uh getting that set up, making sure that
it all kind of aligns with the plan is
[58:08] going to be another thing as well. These
projects have gotten very costly uh in
[58:13] the last three or four years, and so
just making sure making sure we've got
[58:16] the money to do what you all want to do.
[58:24] All right. Do y'all um It sounds I mean,
you're using some of the words that are
[58:29] Do you prescribe to project management
philosophy?
[58:34] » Yeah. I mean,
>> do you have project management um folks
[58:38] on your staff that are certified in
project management or you
[58:42] » Yes. Yes. I Yeah. I sorry. I I wanted to
make sure I understood the question.
[58:47] Absolutely. I mean that that's our bread
and butter, you know, schedule, budget,
[58:53] risk.
>> I mean, it's that it's it sounds simple,
[58:56] but it's not, right? Those things are
complicated and those things have to be
[59:01] well communicated, well understood. Um,
you know, again to Cam's point, like we
[59:06] have got to figure out like early on,
we'll get we'll get with you all and,
[59:11] you know, [snorts] what do what are the
perceived risks? What are the what are
[59:14] the risks? What are the blind spots that
we need to identify early on so we can
[59:18] start moving forward on those before
they become a problem? Um, and just how
[59:23] does that affect schedule? How does that
affect budget? How those things
[59:26] intertwine? The monthly report that
Tyler talked about, it's founded on
[59:31] schedule, budget, and and risk. And I
say schedule first because time is
[59:35] money. And so, you know, as you're
moving through these things in buyout
[59:40] and procurement and, you know, getting
things ordered, time is money. So, not
[59:45] that we would force an accelerated
schedule, but we're going to weigh all
[59:48] the options and present you like options
so that you can make informed decisions.
[59:53] So why did
>> Well, I was just going to say
[59:55] additionally I think part of that
question we have multiple staff with CCM
[59:58] and CMIT certifications as well through
the construction management groups.
[1:00:04] » So what brought you to um respond to
this RFQ? What was unique about
[1:00:11] Hood County or your expertise that Go
>> Okay, this is this is our bread and
[1:00:17] butter. We love working with counties
like y'all. Um, you know, Ellis County
[1:00:22] has been, you know, I started working
with Judge Little over five years ago,
[1:00:27] um, before we brought Tyler on, uh, on
kind of, he was on site for a while. Um,
[1:00:33] and we did some master planning with
them. Uh, you know, we're working with
[1:00:39] Kaufman County, we're working with
Williamson County, Hayes County, Colin
[1:00:42] County. So, like this is our this is our
wheelhouse,
[1:00:46] » but why Hood County?
>> Why Hood County? We have beautiful lake.
[1:00:51] [laughter]
No, honestly, Commissioner, um what
[1:00:55] when I met you and uh you know, Hood
County was all Granberry was always on
[1:01:02] my radar because I knew it was a
beautiful place to retire. And uh when I
[1:01:07] met you at that TAC conference with
Judge Little and and Bode Decker and
[1:01:11] Judge Bodecker, um I thought, "Wow, that
sounds like a a a county that we could
[1:01:17] we could we could help, we could serve."
And so, um, when this came up, we were
[1:01:22] just like, we got we got the right team.
We're right. We're close. We're not
[1:01:27] here. We don't live here. I wish I did.
Um, but, uh, that does that answer your
[1:01:33] question?
>> Yes. Thank you.
[1:01:40] » Presentation. Thank y'all. Thank you
very much.
[1:01:42] » All right, judge. Thank you.
>> I'm calling Todd Little, too. Just
[1:01:46] verify it.
>> Please. Please.
[1:01:50] » All right. Okay. Thank you.
[1:01:56] Okay. JMT.
[1:02:03] » Thank you.
[1:02:32] Good morning.
>> Good morning.
[1:02:33] » Come on up.
>> Good morning. How are you?
[1:02:40] » I'm going to speak from the podium so
that whoever speaking can speak into the
[1:02:44] microphone. We make a recording.
So,
[1:02:48] » okay,
>> one at a time. Come on up there.
[1:03:29] Great. We're ready when y'all are.
[1:03:39] All right. We'll go ahead and get
started. Thank you uh for having us. My
[1:03:43] name is Trevor Castillia and I'm with
JMT and we're uh we're excited for the
[1:03:48] opportunity to present to Hood County on
this uh gel expansion project and so
[1:03:53] we're glad to be here.
[1:03:57] [clears throat] Go ahead. Uh so I lead
our McKini office uh here in North Texas
[1:04:03] and it's my responsibility to manage the
the contracting requirements for this
[1:04:07] contract. with me are our team of
individuals that you al that also
[1:04:12] included in the uh proposal that y'all
have seen. Jordan Barber is going to
[1:04:16] serve as our project manager and Pablo
Martinez is going to serve as our
[1:04:21] on-site construction manager. Unique
thing about Pablo is he is actually
[1:04:25] going to be moving to the area so that
he can be on site every day as needed.
[1:04:30] Then Anthony Simmons is going to serve
as our uh project executive, managing
[1:04:34] the the entire project process, ensuring
that the commission knows what's going
[1:04:40] on with their project uh every month.
A little bit information about JMT. Uh
[1:04:47] so we've been in business for 54 years
and so we have nearly 3,000 uh employees
[1:04:53] that are engineers, architects, project
managers, inspectors and we have been
[1:04:58] designing projects and building projects
for government agencies for over 50
[1:05:04] years. We have 50 offices. Uh we are ISO
901 certified which means quality is
[1:05:10] extremely important to us and so getting
that certification is important. So, we
[1:05:14] want to make sure that we deliver
quality projects and service to the
[1:05:18] county and the taxpayers. And what's
unique about JMT, we have $5 billion
[1:05:22] worth of facilities project management
in the last five years. 200 million of
[1:05:27] that has been uh on Texas public safety
projects. And so, we're proud of that
[1:05:32] record.
[1:05:36] Locally, uh we've we've been in the area
for 30 years. We work for government
[1:05:41] agencies where you whether you're a
city, a county, a university, or or the
[1:05:46] uh state. All we do is service uh public
agencies. We have almost 300 engineers,
[1:05:53] architects, project managers, and
inspectors uh in Texas serving nine
[1:05:58] different cities. And so I want to give
our team the opportunity to present some
[1:06:02] more information and ideas about your
project and show how uh JMT is well
[1:06:07] suited for this contract.
[1:06:16] uh to to keep expanding um on what our
general company background is, we've got
[1:06:22] a couple of uh project highlights here.
Um these projects are uh referenced and
[1:06:28] mentioned in our statement of
qualifications. we wanted to take a
[1:06:32] minute just to to talk about them, but
also uh focus on um our project
[1:06:37] management approach as a whole. Just how
we do business, how we represent you as
[1:06:42] the owner. Um our primary clients
throughout Texas and specifically in our
[1:06:48] uh project management division are city
and county governments. That is our core
[1:06:54] uh client base and not only jail
facilities but all types of municipal
[1:06:59] facilities. So, while we do have jail
experience and qualifications and we
[1:07:04] understand you've got an architect that
really knows jails as well, we think
[1:07:07] that's a great thing. Um, our process is
really our strength. The way we manage
[1:07:11] the process, watch the funds. Um, we
know that there's 24 million allocated
[1:07:16] for this bond election and we've got to
be smart with that money, make it go as
[1:07:20] far as we can, uh, understanding that
the facility existing needs some work as
[1:07:25] well. So uh the Hayes County project was
um beautiful project multi- uh faceted
[1:07:32] multiah phases but very similar in the
fact that uh Hayes County is growing a
[1:07:38] lot. It it needed a renovation of the
existing jail facility plus the addition
[1:07:44] of a new facility to keep up with the
expansion and population growth similar
[1:07:48] to Hood County. Um we were involved very
early on that project uh to do uh bond
[1:07:54] facilitation so to get the bond program
out there help develop the the
[1:07:58] propositions and do some of the
budgeting. Obviously in in this case
[1:08:02] we're ahead of that. Um but we were
involved in the actual procurement
[1:08:06] solicitation selection qualification of
the design and the ar uh design and the
[1:08:12] contractor teams.
[1:08:17] Then B County, uh, another county
example. Um, this one is in Beville,
[1:08:22] Texas. Um,
a lot of similarities similarities with
[1:08:27] this one as well. 51,640
ft square foot facility. It also had a
[1:08:32] sheriff's office attached separate
modular uh, construction, but um,
[1:08:39] construction manager at risk delivery,
which I think is something that uh, the
[1:08:43] county has considered for the the Hood
County Jail project. Um, we also did
[1:08:48] owners representation, full project
management, uh, package there, on-site
[1:08:53] construction management, which Pablo
will be, uh, executing hopefully for for
[1:08:58] Hood County. Um, you know, these
projects, uh, being jails have a lot of
[1:09:04] similarities, but we've also got another
example, um, of local work. Um Tarlton
[1:09:11] State University just down the road in
Stevenville. We've got a really amazing
[1:09:16] partnership with uh Tarlton and Texas&M
University system. Uh we've done a three
[1:09:22] we've had three renewals of one-year
master uh service agreements with
[1:09:27] Texas&M University system at Charlton
State University. We currently have
[1:09:31] full-time on-site project management
staff in Stevenville. That's going to
[1:09:35] support Pablo if if we need it, if we
need additional capacity. Um but we've
[1:09:40] got what you're seeing here is a a
convocation center um recently
[1:09:45] completed. We've also done a health
sciences center, a library expansion and
[1:09:50] renovation, a parking garage, and we're
currently engaged in a large thousand
[1:09:55] bed dormatory project in Stevenville,
Texas. So, local assets um really
[1:10:01] amazing partnership and that's something
that you guys could visit that uh if if
[1:10:05] needed or if last name the maintenance
director at Carlton. You know who I'm
[1:10:10] talking about?
>> Louise, our on-site PM probably would
[1:10:15] know. We we deal primarily with the FPNC
Texas A&M out of College Station and
[1:10:20] then they link us up to the Stevenville
uh facilities people. So, I'm one layer
[1:10:26] removed from that technically, but we
can we can get that info.
[1:10:31] » Previous slide you had Stevenville. Is
this what you were referencing or is
[1:10:35] there something else you're doing in
Stevenville?
[1:10:37] » Previous
>> I think that was B bill.
[1:10:40] » No. Okay. Keep going back.
>> She said Stevenville was listed as
[1:10:46] » one of your
>> Yes. Correct.
[1:10:50] » Okay.
>> Correct. Yes.
[1:10:52] » Okay. was been a couple slides back.
>> Okay. And so, uh, apart from from the
[1:10:59] projects, uh, Jordan Barber as the
proposed PM, he's going to talk about
[1:11:02] our proposed services and we'll watch
the time.
[1:11:08] » Have eight minutes.
>> So, as as Trevor and Anthony uh showed
[1:11:12] you, this isn't our first rodeo, but
now, like he said, I'd like to get into
[1:11:16] more of the specifics of what we can do
for you. So, like I will be the project
[1:11:21] manager, my team and I, this is a a vast
list of services. It's not
[1:11:24] all-encompassing, but that we will
provide to you to ensure this project
[1:11:30] goes smoothly on time and budget from
start to finish.
[1:11:35] So with my personal municipal and
military construction background,
[1:11:41] dedicated service to my projects, their
owners, and while also being a good
[1:11:46] steward of taxpayer dollars is in my
core foundation, and that would be the
[1:11:50] same here in Hood County. So I've
managed multiple barracks projects and
[1:11:54] combat zones that were very similar in
construction as this, built in high
[1:11:59] security environments, required extreme
oversight and management. and that's
[1:12:04] exactly what we could bring to the table
for this one. So, our priority as your
[1:12:08] owner agent is to manage every aspect of
this project, design and construction
[1:12:13] for you
and for the best value to the county.
[1:12:18] We'll be your eyes and ears on site
managing all the logistics, site
[1:12:22] security, reviewing and validating all
paperwork, document control, as well as
[1:12:28] co coordinating all the other things
that the the contractor may not the
[1:12:32] security equipment, audio, video,
furniture, fixtures, equipment,
[1:12:35] materials testing, as well as
coordination with utility providers,
[1:12:39] city permitting, TCJS
from from design through construction,
[1:12:46] commissioning, closeout out all the way
to final occupancy while providing
[1:12:51] timely updates along the way.
So now I want to I want to focus on the
[1:12:58] the cost controls that we can provide as
I know that the budget is particularly
[1:13:03] u high priority here. So, just as this
says, we'll be managing the budget as
[1:13:07] early as possible in the design,
advising you on your your construction
[1:13:12] manager at risk selection to begin
gathering budgetary numbers as early as
[1:13:17] possible and ensure the DRG is designing
to the budget while also we could help
[1:13:22] play any interference from possible
scope creep that could try to be
[1:13:27] inserted into this that could affect the
budget as well as identifying risks if
[1:13:32] there are potential risks as early and
mitigating them as early as possible. We
[1:13:38] will thoroughly scrutinize every aspect
of both the design and construction that
[1:13:43] has any tie to the budget.
Some additional details on that um you
[1:13:50] can see up here. So, constructibility
reviews are going to be key to
[1:13:54] minimizing change orders. And with Pablo
as a registered architect's assistance,
[1:14:00] together we will ensure that what get
what is in the design will actually work
[1:14:04] in the field. We also work with the
architects and contractors on a
[1:14:07] continuous basis looking for value
engineering opportunities throughout the
[1:14:11] entire life cycle of the project. We
will dissect every pay application and
[1:14:15] validate all the backup documentation
and and validate that it's actually what
[1:14:21] has been done on site as well as
continuously validating the the the
[1:14:27] construction project versus pro progress
versus the schedule and ensure there's
[1:14:32] no additional cost for delays or
extensions.
[1:14:36] For reference, this is another project
of ours where we're the owner's agents
[1:14:40] for the city of Salina on this $und00
million downtown center that is the
[1:14:44] centerpiece of their of their downtown
square. And their biggest priority was
[1:14:49] staying within the guaranteed maximum
price GMP.
[1:14:52] their contractor presented dozens of
change orders that J&T meticulously
[1:14:56] scrutinized and vetted like I said we do
through and just through this process
[1:15:00] alone we've advised the owner to reject
multiple of them that saved over
[1:15:06] $150,000
and we and on some of the other ones we
[1:15:09] were able to save over $100,000 by
identifying errors that they the
[1:15:14] contractor had made in their quantity
takeoffs scope ads and gaps and if we
[1:15:20] hadn't have been there the owner may
have just approved these
[1:15:22] and the GMP would have certainly been in
jeopardy. Bottom line, all our
[1:15:28] decisions, recommendations, and actions
will be grounded in the county and the
[1:15:32] taxpayers's best interest.
>> I'm sorry, GMP
[1:15:36] » uh guarantee maximum price.
>> Okay.
[1:15:42] » Okay.
So there was a lot of words there, but
[1:15:48] can you just describe succinctly how you
would manage the cost and then make sure
[1:15:53] there was no cost overruns because you
you you used a lot of big construction I
[1:16:00] mean project management terminology and
but just in layman's terms, how are you
[1:16:05] going to make sure that the project
doesn't overrun the budget?
[1:16:10] » Oh, can you
[1:16:14] Yes, ma'am. So, attention to detail is
key and again vetting every every
[1:16:21] pay, every RFI, every submittal and with
also with the document review ahead of
[1:16:28] time, knowing exactly what the pro the
project entails and ensuring that the
[1:16:35] contractor is meeting the specifications
and you know that what that that it
[1:16:42] meets what the intent of the design is
and there's no deviations that could
[1:16:48] that could come with co additional cost
impacts.
[1:16:51] » So are you doing that just by reviewing
reports? Are you
[1:16:56] » I mean would Yes. I mean, with my
oversight, his on-site oversight, we
[1:17:00] have a direct connection to what's going
on and ensuring that
[1:17:06] that there's nothing that could go wrong
to add cost. And if they try to claim
[1:17:13] that, we will we will, you know, refute
it. And if there is any way to
[1:17:22] to prove that there shouldn't be cost
there.
[1:17:25] » Okay. And so how often will you be you
or someone be on site?
[1:17:30] » He could be on site every day.
>> Could be or will be.
[1:17:32] » Will be.
>> Will
[1:17:38] or something like that.
>> As long as I need it. As long as the
[1:17:42] construction activity is there, I will
be there.
[1:17:48] » You would be traveling from
>> No, I'll be moving here from Austin.
[1:18:00] Thank you.
>> As uh Jordan mentioned, one of the key
[1:18:05] responsibilities
of owner's agent uh field agent is to
[1:18:09] review project drawings from initial
design through the final completion to
[1:18:15] identify potential cost savings and uh
prevent additional cost expenses.
[1:18:20] relevant example is the um water utility
fleet maintenance facility in El Paso,
[1:18:27] Texas. During their design view, I
noticed that they designed uh included a
[1:18:32] top running crane running the length of
the building. Uh drawing from prior
[1:18:39] experience, I advised the team to if the
hook height or the lift uh of the crane
[1:18:45] met owner's requirements. After further
study, the owner and the architect
[1:18:52] uh decided to uh increase the size or
the height of the building and also the
[1:18:59] height of the crane to meet their
requirements.
[1:19:03] Also identified was a insufficient steel
support for a movable partition over the
[1:19:08] break room. Uh by identifying these
early uh the team resolved costly change
[1:19:14] orders and in this case uh the crane
system uh could be used to its full
[1:19:21] potential
at the Air Paso uh airport uh
[1:19:26] international airport. The project was
highly complex. Uh a com a comprehensive
[1:19:31] logistic meeting was held with the
construction team and key stakeholders
[1:19:38] uh to address the security protocols in
the sterile and the non-sterile areas of
[1:19:44] the airport. Material storage
requirements for each phase. Sequencing
[1:19:49] sequence of of uh phases including the
construction of temporary check-in
[1:19:55] baggage. Demolition of existing check-in
baggage, new check-in baggage facility,
[1:20:01] the back of house renovations, and
finally the demolition of temporary of
[1:20:06] check-in baggage. Operational consider
uh operational during normal peak hours
[1:20:13] including high peak seasonal were
considered to minimize passengers
[1:20:18] disruption and stakeholder activities.
Effective logistic planning was
[1:20:25] instrumental in meeting projects
objectives uh aligning stakeholder needs
[1:20:30] and maintaining a tight construction
schedule. Through detailed cost
[1:20:35] estimating and analysis, we achieved a
cost savings uh exceeding $100,000 uh
[1:20:42] dollars.
Building on these experience, we applied
[1:20:47] a similar proactive approach to Hood
County by conducting a thorough review
[1:20:54] of ex existing conditions, coordinating
inmate relocation, establishing an
[1:21:00] efficient renovation sequence,
prioritizing HBAC and plumbing systems
[1:21:06] upgrades, and addressing ceiling heights
constraints and if necessary, structural
[1:21:12] or insecurity enhancements. ments
maintaining facility operations while ma
[1:21:18] m managing a controlling renovation
cost.
[1:21:23] And of course adding to this, I will be
there
[1:21:28] uh during construction activities to
report to uh Jordan.
[1:21:34] Um,
I'll be there for
[1:21:38] uh inspections, special inspections,
uh, reviewing submittals, making sure
[1:21:45] that the construction
is per
[1:21:50] uh, construction documents.
Thank
[1:21:55] » you.
[1:22:00] Are you moving yourself to Granberry?
>> Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I mobile
[1:22:08] » to Granberry. Yes.
>> Yes.
[1:22:11] » Not to Stevenville. To Granberry.
>> No. To Granberry. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
[1:22:16] » So, um, what do you see as the top risks
facing Cood County with this project?
[1:22:22] I see budget as as most of my projects
that I'm currently um uh handling right
[1:22:29] now is is a budget uh issue.
>> Yeah.
[1:22:33] » Okay.
>> Um what about the um you mentioned kind
[1:22:38] of went over it with the baggage
example, but it's a little different
[1:22:42] with the jail, but so where you had to
handle a phased approach where the
[1:22:47] jail's operational while you're in
construction. And how did you handle the
[1:22:50] security compliance
during that project?
[1:22:54] » Well, first of all, we have to uh
familiar familiar size with the the
[1:23:00] protocols of the of the security with
with the uh you know, whoever the is
[1:23:07] managing security at the at the jail and
what are those protocols
[1:23:12] and then and then uh broadcast that to
the construction uh team.
[1:23:20] But certainly uh a a logistics was was
certainly uh uh we'll we'll do a
[1:23:28] logistics on on on these on these
matters.
[1:23:30] » So have you had that situation before
where you had a jail that was occupied
[1:23:36] while adding on to
>> uh No. No.
[1:23:42] Have you we have some documents online
um that
[1:23:48] about the jail. Have you guys reviewed
those?
[1:23:51] » Yes. Uh some of it. Yes.
>> Yeah.
[1:24:01] » Do you have an example? How would you
handle change orders?
[1:24:06] change orders are um
actually uh brought up on the field and
[1:24:12] so the the the uh they look at the
problem what the situation is lack of
[1:24:18] for example drawing details for example
that there's no details on it uh or
[1:24:26] unforeseen unforeseen things in the in
the field then I I looked at those and
[1:24:32] then I take a cost analysis on it and
then I forward over to um Jordan. Jordan
[1:24:40] will then uh do more cost analysis on
that and then and then uh when the
[1:24:47] superintendent
and his contractor gets their their
[1:24:53] change order in, then we'll we'll uh
analyze the change order and then and
[1:24:59] then have the architect approve or
whoever is in charge. So what's the
[1:25:03] process of informing the court kind of
not just but change orders but for
[1:25:09] project for the status what's your
process?
[1:25:13] » Uh well actually the the process would
be uh through through Jordan would would
[1:25:20] answer that that question but as as a
field guy I know what what what
[1:25:26] the work is in entails the work and
material.
[1:25:30] » Okay. And so I look at at how many men
it was going to take, how many hours it
[1:25:35] going to take, how much material it's
going to take, and then I take a cost
[1:25:39] estimate
of from my experience and from other
[1:25:43] sources,
>> and then I send it over to Jordan, and
[1:25:46] then Jordan will will distribute that.
>> Yeah,
[1:25:51] » Jordan.
>> So maybe I was asking the wrong person.
[1:25:54] So what's the process for keeping the
court informed?
[1:25:56] » Yes, ma'am. I mean we we can actually
tailor that to however you would like. I
[1:26:01] mean obviously any cost impacts we would
want to notify you say hey they are
[1:26:07] claiming this. We are go what I also
want to say we have no problem being the
[1:26:11] bad guy. Okay contractors we love them
but we need them but you know sometimes
[1:26:17] they're they're in have self-interest
and so so you will absolutely be
[1:26:23] notified that they are claiming this.
Again, we will go through it with a fine
[1:26:28] tooth comb, validate their claims and
and then we will have a discussion
[1:26:35] about what to do with it and how does
this work with the budget and what you
[1:26:40] know what are the implications
>> and I mean just overall for the entire
[1:26:44] project what not just change orders I
know that was where I started but how do
[1:26:48] you keep the court informed of the
>> Yes ma'am we do we do weekly reports
[1:26:52] monthly reports I mean we have we have a
Procore. We use Procore which is a
[1:26:57] online where we where we have all
everything filed that you can go in at
[1:27:02] any time and and pull things, run
reports.
[1:27:07] » We would do that.
>> No, you don't have to. You could,
[1:27:09] [laughter] but we will we can provide
certainly weekly reports, daily reports.
[1:27:14] It is again we can tailor it to exactly
how you would like to be informed. But
[1:27:19] certainly any any changes, major issues
we would I would bring to your attention
[1:27:26] as I handled them.
>> Okay. Any other risks that just um you
[1:27:31] mentioned when I asked what the tough
risks were, you said someone said
[1:27:34] budget. I guess Pablo did. Was there
anything else?
[1:27:41] I mean the the budget is
is is going to be tight but that's why I
[1:27:46] said we we have to make sure we design
through the budget and not vice versa.
[1:27:51] Um
as far as other risks again the
[1:27:54] logistics will be you know will be
unique but we nothing we can't handle
[1:28:00] and
yeah I think other than that I don't see
[1:28:06] any major risks.
[1:28:14] » All right. Thank you very much.
>> Very good presentation. Thank y'all all
[1:28:19] for coming down. All right. Appreciate
it. Thank you.
[1:28:23] » Okay, Sheriff. The last one. Brous and
Associates.
[1:29:02] Come on down, gentlemen.
[1:29:08] » Y'all have a seat. One speaker. One at a
time will come to the podium and use the
[1:29:13] microphone. We make a recording of it.
So,
[1:29:18] if you have a handout, we'll be glad to
receive it up here.
[1:29:32] Thank. Okay. Thank you very much.
[1:29:50] » Good deal. Thank you.
[1:29:55] Yeah.
[1:30:54] Okay, please.
>> Yes, sir.
[1:30:56] » Good morning,
>> honor. Good morning. Thank y'all. Uh
[1:30:59] we're honored to be here today. Paul
Webb, the chief operating officer of
[1:31:03] Broaden Associates. We're in Austin, uh
headquartered in Austin, Texas, but uh a
[1:31:09] Texas ccentric firm, Morning Bread. Our
first job was for Williamson County, a
[1:31:14] jail expansion project 25 years ago. So,
just an honor to be here this morning
[1:31:19] and discuss how our firm we think is
well suited to help you deliver the gel
[1:31:25] expansion project over the next uh 18
months or so. U want to start with
[1:31:31] introductions. I'll let my team come up
and introduce themselves. Okay.
[1:31:38] » Good morning everybody. Thanks a lot for
having us. We're excited about this
[1:31:41] opportunity. My name is Steve Cook and
I'm going to be the program manager for
[1:31:44] this project. I'm local, one of the
local people here. Um, and I come from
[1:31:49] your side of the table from 34 years.
I've worked at several different cities
[1:31:52] over the last several years, Arlington,
Fort Worth, Rowlet, and some other ones
[1:31:55] here and there. Um, I did public works
director and and um property management
[1:32:01] director and things of that nature. And
so I really admire you for getting to
[1:32:04] this point. I were in the the the bond
elections from 2018 for Fort Worth and
[1:32:09] 2022. And so I know the scars and
bruises it takes to get to this place
[1:32:12] where we are today. So you're to be
commended for that and that's a great
[1:32:16] that's a great thing. Um,
one of the things I wanted to um talk
[1:32:20] about too is my relationship with Brus
in 2020. I had to um we had I had my own
[1:32:26] team of four architects and and four or
five um project managers, but we had a
[1:32:32] big old project coming up on the on the
convention center. It's $150 million
[1:32:35] project and we just didn't feel like we
had the expertise for that. And so we
[1:32:38] went out for solicitations just like
you're doing today and um we we made our
[1:32:42] selection and my selection was brought
us at the time and you if you're
[1:32:46] familiar with 2020 you know what
happened with COVID and all the things
[1:32:49] and materials you couldn't get them and
all that and so that was extremely
[1:32:52] difficult project and I had to work very
very very tightly with one of the people
[1:32:56] that he's not here today but he's one of
the ones that be with us too his name is
[1:33:00] David Crabtree and um it was a fantastic
relationship that we built going through
[1:33:04] the trenches together you know to get
that project built and um and all the
[1:33:08] experts that brought us had that came in
to help us with anything any eventuality
[1:33:12] that came up, they had somebody there to
help me and take care of me. So now that
[1:33:16] I'm not in the public sector anymore, it
was pretty easy choice for me to come um
[1:33:20] do something that brought us uh so I'm
honored to be here. Um can't wait to be
[1:33:23] on this project with that.
[1:33:28] » Good morning. My name is Brett Edmonson.
Um, I have been in construction for 17
[1:33:33] years and of those 17, um, I've been an
owner's rep for 12 of them. Um, I
[1:33:39] thoroughly enjoy what I do and something
that I've learned in those 12 years is
[1:33:44] my passion to, um, really look out for
the ownership and the project itself and
[1:33:50] all of that and deliver it to you um,
based on um, how it's designed and
[1:33:55] within your budget and and schedule. So
anyway, thank you very much.
[1:34:02] Good morning. Uh Jack Judy, uh the chief
estimator for Broadus and Associates. Uh
[1:34:08] 35 years uh in the construction
business, 18 years with Broaden
[1:34:14] Associates. Uh my passion is uh taking
care of owners money, taking being a
[1:34:21] good steward of the project. Uh open
communication
[1:34:26] constantly constantly uh giving feedback
uh about the project about its place in
[1:34:35] uh the cost cycle of the project. We
plan to do exactly that on this project
[1:34:41] and uh thank you for the opportunity.
Look forward to getting started.
[1:34:48] Good morning. My name is Glenn Dver. Uh
I have 34 years of experience
[1:34:55] um both as a design lead on the
architecture side and construction
[1:34:59] management uh project management. Um
most of my work has been for jail on
[1:35:07] jails. I have 24 plus jails and
sheriff's offices I've done and been
[1:35:13] involved with. Uh this includes mostly
county jails uh and sheriff's offices.
[1:35:19] Uh in that time I've learned a lot of
things about detention and corrections.
[1:35:24] Uh probably most importantly for you,
I've learned what not to do and I'll be
[1:35:29] working with you on your design and
planning review. Thank you.
[1:35:33] » Next slide, please.
you saw in our proposal and again on the
[1:35:37] handout we've got on the leave behind
our organization chart u a couple of
[1:35:43] couple of names I want to point out on
this uh uh Steve mentioned David
[1:35:47] Crabtree David had a pre-planned uh um
spring break trip and couldn't be here
[1:35:52] but uh David is my market sector leader
here in Fort Worth in this part of Texas
[1:35:58] and look forward to you meeting him and
then another gentleman that couldn't be
[1:36:02] with us today Ben Wagner on schedule
management We're going to talk some more
[1:36:06] over the next 10 minutes about our best
practices, our industry proven best
[1:36:11] practices. We're not a firm that just
passes paper between the contractor and
[1:36:15] the owner or the designer and the owner.
We dig in and apply industry proven best
[1:36:21] practices. Proactive schedule management
being one of them. um just making sure
[1:36:27] that the general contractor or the
Seymar has teeth in the specification of
[1:36:32] their contract that forces the schedule
to be used as it's intended to be on a
[1:36:37] construction project. We understand the
voters history on this uh bond, this
[1:36:44] jail expansion bond. Uh we know the
price uh the the value change between
[1:36:50] the 24 election and 25. We also
understand the cost to the county of of
[1:36:56] moving inmates outside of the county and
and and the the study that y'all did had
[1:37:02] done for the costbenefit analysis and
the money that can be saved over time.
[1:37:08] But again, my point being, you know, the
the staying within the budget and
[1:37:13] staying on schedule is going to be very
very important and we have tools in
[1:37:17] place to ensure or at least mitigate the
risk associated with cost and schedule
[1:37:23] growth. Next slide.
You ask uh in the in the invitation to
[1:37:30] for the short list to talk about our
services relevant experience, cost and
[1:37:34] quality control and then our firm value
and differentiators. Uh, next slide.
[1:37:39] Uh, again, uh, Texas firm 25 years, uh,
celebration this year. We're the only
[1:37:47] vet hub, uh, in the state of Texas. Vet
hub being veteranowned. About 25% of our
[1:37:54] 150 employees, including my 27year
career in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps
[1:37:59] and CBS. Um so very take a lot of pride
in what we do uh for the state of Texas
[1:38:04] and the we bring that um that mission
mindset to our to our owners and uh so
[1:38:12] just very proud very experienced firm
average experience 25 years and u uh so
[1:38:19] next slide.
[1:38:29] As I mentioned in my introduction, I'll
be reviewing documents. Our team will
[1:38:33] look at things and make sure we identify
issues and code compliance and make sure
[1:38:39] it meets standards and all of those
things we're going to do. Uh because
[1:38:43] it's so important because you're going
to if you're going to save money, you
[1:38:47] want to do it before the dirt's turned.
And so that's where we can find savings.
[1:38:51] That's where we can do reviews to make
sure those things happen. Uh we'll look
[1:38:55] at at things like uh systems, control
systems. Control systems on jails are
[1:39:02] very important. You can't shut down. So
it's so important that the people who
[1:39:07] manufacture your controls have texts
that are within driving distance and get
[1:39:11] quickly. So those are the kind of things
you want to think about. Also, software
[1:39:14] nowadays, the way they get you is by
updates. And so you want to find
[1:39:20] something that includes updates that so
it'll cut costs. So we're going to be
[1:39:23] looking at those type of things. We're
going to be reviewing for issues um and
[1:39:28] try to find uh efficiencies where
possible. Um we'll be looking at budget
[1:39:33] management and and Jack will speak more
to that later on. And especially we'll
[1:39:37] be looking at the delivery method. Uh
we're familiar with writing RFPs and
[1:39:43] you're going to need to get the
contractor in as soon as you can. That
[1:39:46] way they can start giving you numbers
and you start looking at schedules and
[1:39:49] realities and everything becomes more
clear faster. So Jack's going to share
[1:39:54] more with you about this
in just a moment. Next slide.
[1:40:00] Um,
one of the other things I'd like to just
[1:40:03] hit on is reviews of the schedule. We're
is so important that we establish those
[1:40:10] design related schedule elements. so
many times are overlooked, but it drives
[1:40:16] the schedule early on. And so we want to
make sure we mention that. Jack,
[1:40:24] » thank you. Uh, one of the early things
that we would do uh, as estimators would
[1:40:29] come in, verify your budget. Job one,
make sure that whatever has been
[1:40:35] established is adequate for building
your program. uh in the eventuality the
[1:40:40] value engineering is needed. We would
look at every process in every system
[1:40:46] across the the project's life cycle. Uh
is this project supposed to be uh
[1:40:52] concrete poured in place? Is it supposed
to be pre-cast? Is it supposed to be
[1:40:56] modular steel? We'll look at all of
those options, uh present those to you
[1:41:01] as the owners, and allow you to make
qualified and uh appropriate choices for
[1:41:07] your program.
uh as I said, you know, it's important
[1:41:10] for us to uh get in involved early uh
verify that budget that will then uh
[1:41:19] guarantee or come closer to guaranteeing
uh quality outcome at the end of the
[1:41:23] project. Thanks.
>> Next slide, please. [clears throat]
[1:41:29] So, I will be the uh main point of
contact on a daily basis for the project
[1:41:34] itself while under construction. Um, my
job is charged to oversee that
[1:41:39] contractor, make sure they're building
things per design, per specifications,
[1:41:44] um, following the rules, um, getting the
appropriate testing done, um, etc. Um,
[1:41:49] reviewing pay applications, making sure
they're appropriate. We're reviewing
[1:41:53] change requests, making sure they're
appropriate or not. Um, so it's kind of
[1:41:57] the nuts and bolts of of the project as
it's being built in real time, making
[1:42:01] sure that we deliver that um on budget
and on schedule.
[1:42:11] » So in both our proposal and the handout
you have, we've tried to lay lay out for
[1:42:15] you the not only the work across the
state of Texas, specifically in North
[1:42:19] Texas, um, but also the specifics on
jail and corrections facilities. We just
[1:42:25] finished up last year for Halum City.
We're still on a sheriff's expansion
[1:42:30] expansion project in Rockwell County.
Just a ton of experience. I won't repeat
[1:42:36] a lot of that, but just uh just know
we've got uh we've got the experience
[1:42:40] that you need to bring those lessons
learned and apply those to your project.
[1:42:44] Next slide, please.
Jack. Oh, excuse me, Steve. So,
[1:42:50] budgeting and quality control. It feels
like this is pretty much the definition
[1:42:53] my of my career over the last three and
a half decades. I what I had to do was
[1:42:58] protect that budget just like you did.
We built it and we had we had plans and
[1:43:02] then once you get get into it, you have
to protect that thing. And so um I think
[1:43:05] that was a big part of what I was
familiar with and what what was
[1:43:08] obviously very important to everything
we touched. The quality control is also
[1:43:12] very close to my heart. In my career,
I've had to maintain over 400 buildings.
[1:43:16] And so if you don't have quality control
of your construction, you're not going
[1:43:19] to be able to you're not going to have
operational excellence in any program
[1:43:22] that you have or any building that you
have. Right? And so I've made every
[1:43:26] mistake you can make. I've seen every
every mistake that's been made. I've had
[1:43:29] to come back behind somebody else that
built something that I didn't have
[1:43:32] anything to do with and the the
mechanical systems upside down and
[1:43:35] sideways and the pan's crooked and all
those kinds of things. And so I'm here
[1:43:39] to help make sure that what we what we
put down is something that you can be
[1:43:43] proud of and you can maintain for the
next several decades. And Jack can talk
[1:43:48] a little bit more about budget.
At the risk of sounding like a broken
[1:43:53] record, uh our early involvement as
estimators is just hyper critical to
[1:43:57] your project success. Uh early cost
alignment will prevent those value
[1:44:02] engineering exercises that could
potentially happen uh as the project
[1:44:06] progresses. uh performs uh the early
estimating and budget verification uh
[1:44:13] will help with operational uh expense.
We can do uh life cycle cost versus s
[1:44:19] first cost analysis and it brought us uh
we're unique in that we have we're able
[1:44:25] to do that inhouse and not reach out to
the outside market to bring that
[1:44:29] expertise in. So we look forward to
doing that.
[1:44:35] » Let me ask you a question. Yes, sir.
>> You're here that you have weekly onsite
[1:44:41] representation?
>> Yes, sir.
[1:44:43] » What does that mean? Once a week you
going to have somebody come out here?
[1:44:47] » No. What we would propose to do, and I
was going to address this, your honor,
[1:44:50] uh, at the end of the presentation, but,
uh, we were cautious. We we we ask
[1:44:54] ourselves, you know, showing up with
five people. We got 150 50 people in the
[1:44:58] organization. I don't want you to think,
and this is we've seen this before,
[1:45:03] brought us, you're going to be
expensive, send a big team. No, we want
[1:45:05] to sit down with with you and your staff
to rightsize our approach to this
[1:45:10] project. Whether it's Brett full-time as
a project manager or maybe the answer is
[1:45:16] it's 30 hours a week for Brett with with
fractional support from Steve and from
[1:45:21] Jack Judy and from Ben Wagner. It's
making sure that we work with your staff
[1:45:26] to rightsize our approach to guarantee
or risk mitigate risk related to success
[1:45:34] of the project. Does that answer your
question, sir?
[1:45:40] » Kind of. When I was building my house, I
had my hand I built out the country so I
[1:45:45] didn't have city ordinances and stuff.
>> Yes, sir. And I had one of the hands
[1:45:49] come out with a video camera every day.
Even when it was raining, nothing was
[1:45:53] going on. I wanted to see that nothing
was going on that day.
[1:45:56] » Yes, sir.
>> But when they were doing it from morning
[1:46:00] and twice during the day, I had a video
of everything going up at my house. So,
[1:46:05] I almost had daily
>> I had daily representation of what was
[1:46:10] going on. Do y'all see that? that's on a
job like this to not have a daily
[1:46:16] representative on the project.
>> Oh, we absolutely do. And that's what
[1:46:19] Brett is here. Uh that's that's would be
Brett's role. Uh especially during the
[1:46:24] construction phase. We think a lot of a
lot of times what we've seen is the the
[1:46:29] support of the design phase. You don't
want somebody sitting here charging the
[1:46:34] county money to to You can do design
management, show up for specific
[1:46:40] milestone meetings in person, but a lot
of the design phase management is
[1:46:45] different than the construction phase.
>> Sure. Yes.
[1:46:47] » But I'm talking about the actual
construction.
[1:46:49] » Oh, yes, sir. Absolutely.
>> There'll be somebody on site.
[1:46:52] » Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
>> That would be Brett.
[1:46:56] » Yes, ma'am.
>> And where would he be coming from? Ter
[1:46:59] County.
[1:47:03] So, we've mentioned a couple of times
our industry best practices, and it's
[1:47:08] not just words. What I've got on the
screen right now is quantifiable
[1:47:13] savings. These projects, this is our top
10.
[1:47:18] This represents
200%
[1:47:21] return on investment to the owner of
compared to our fee. In other words,
[1:47:27] we've more than based on our approach,
our application of industry best pract
[1:47:32] practices, we've more than paid for our
services to 2x on these top 10. Across
[1:47:38] our 100 projects that are active today,
about 80% of our in the aggregate, 80%
[1:47:44] of our fee is returned to the owner
based on our industry application of our
[1:47:49] industry best practices.
So, it's not just academic. It is we've
[1:47:55] got quantifiable savings and we can talk
about any of these that you'd like to
[1:47:59] talk about or we could talk about that
more detail. Next slide.
[1:48:05] Again, this our last slide. We're just
honored to be here this morning.
[1:48:08] Appreciate the opportunity to be
shortlisted and have a visit with y'all.
[1:48:12] Um, we feel like we're the right firm
for Hood County. We understand the
[1:48:19] market. We understand
uh working with local county
[1:48:24] governments, city governments, uh the
some of the challenges in the market
[1:48:28] today with with u general contractors,
good finding good general contractors
[1:48:34] who are willing to bring resources to
Hood County for this project. Um again,
[1:48:40] extensive experience across the state of
Texas. Te Texas is our home and we're
[1:48:44] just honored to be here this morning.
Now, open it up for any questions that
[1:48:47] you have.
[1:48:51] Have you
>> Thank you.
[1:48:52] » Have you um
had a situation with one of these
[1:48:57] projects that was a jail where the jail
was operational but needed to be add on
[1:49:03] added on to. Can you walk us through how
you maintained security and compliance
[1:49:07] during that project?
>> And then you want to tackle that?
[1:49:11] » Yeah.
>> Um Kamal County is a good example of
[1:49:16] that. occupied jail facility. Um there
are several things you do. We don't want
[1:49:22] you to We understand your greatest cost
is staff. So we want to make sure you
[1:49:25] don't have to add staff. Um building
sometimes it's as simple as building
[1:49:31] fencing and and including that in in the
contract. Uh separation of the job site,
[1:49:38] check in, check out of the job site for
workers. Uh so there are protocols that
[1:49:43] you put into place. Uh if you're
building something, connections usually
[1:49:47] come last. So the jail's functioning,
you build the other piece, then you
[1:49:51] build the connector so that you can keep
those things separate. So they're
[1:49:55] they're pretty scheduled out tightly uh
for that type of situation. Does that
[1:50:00] answer your question?
>> Like plumbing and electricity, how do
[1:50:02] you say the connections?
>> Usually you usually you rough in
[1:50:06] everything to where it goes and you do
the same thing. You have a shutdown very
[1:50:10] brief because shutdowns are are almost
impossible. So, uh, you get everything
[1:50:15] ready and then you just plug and play
sort of, so to speak.
[1:50:19] » Okay. So, what do you see as the biggest
risk to this project in any I'm not
[1:50:24] asking you in particular, just whoever
want.
[1:50:26] » Yeah.
You know, I just um
[1:50:31] I think cost growth, cost and schedule
growth are the two significant, you
[1:50:35] know, when you had the failed election
bond election in November 24 and
[1:50:40] essentially went back out a year later
at half the at half the value. Um, and
[1:50:46] of course, you know, with your with your
what you're paying to send inmates out
[1:50:51] of this county,
cost and schedule management are going
[1:50:55] to be the two most critical aspects.
And um we've seen, you know, again,
[1:51:02] we've we've we've had success in Tarant
County and the surrounding counties uh
[1:51:08] with good contractors, but we've also
seen very incompetent contractors that
[1:51:14] get hired by a county or a city and uh
you know, can will the are the really
[1:51:20] good contractors willing to either maybe
they're here in Hood County already, but
[1:51:24] are they willing to come out if they're
not and and and to bring in an A team
[1:51:29] and that's important as we work with
your staff and and the design firm uh
[1:51:35] DRG to
develop either the general contractor
[1:51:41] RFP or the Seymar RFP to make sure that
we put teeth in that regard as I
[1:51:47] mentioned earlier regarding the schedule
schedule management but also help you
[1:51:51] find the contractors that have built
jails and expanded jails in in the past,
[1:51:57] but also have the the capability to
bring those assets to bear here in Hood
[1:52:03] County.
>> So, describe how your firm will commit
[1:52:08] to prioritizing Hood County's project in
connection with all of your other
[1:52:13] projects.
>> It'll be seamless. We don't There's no
[1:52:17] prioritization. I mean, it is Brett will
be here full-time. Again, we'll uh work
[1:52:22] with your staff to to to
negotiate a fee that's consistent with
[1:52:27] the kind of support that's needed for
the project. But all of our support um
[1:52:33] as I mentioned, David Crabtree, Steve,
Brett are all here in uh Tarant County
[1:52:38] nearby.
From a leadership perspective, our firm,
[1:52:43] we take monthly briefs um and visit the
job site as needed. Uh thankfully I've
[1:52:49] got great staff scattered all over the
all over the state that that manage that
[1:52:53] effort. But uh at the CEO level, we pay
attention to each project across the
[1:52:58] entire company. Uh there's not it's
really not a prioritization issue. It
[1:53:02] because that's well we're just dedicated
to the job.
[1:53:05] » What would the communication look like
back to the commissioner's court? How
[1:53:08] often and what would it be?
>> It'll totally be at y'all's request.
[1:53:13] We'll we can communicate daily at at
whatever level you want us to
[1:53:16] communicate at. We can communicate at
county commissioners spec formal county
[1:53:21] commissioners meetings. We can update
your county staff. Again, it's whatever
[1:53:27] the y'all desire in terms of information
flow. We don't want to do anything
[1:53:32] without y'all's involvement in approval.
>> So, you don't have a standard report
[1:53:36] that you submit?
>> We we do, but it varies from client to
[1:53:40] client whether they want to see that on
a weekly or a monthly basis.
[1:53:43] » And what would be the key elements in
that? Uh again, cost schedule,
[1:53:50] um any type of anticipated delays,
essentially just making sure that y'all
[1:53:55] are always aware of any type of issues
that would limit success on the project.
[1:54:02] » Thank you.
>> Yes, ma'am.
[1:54:12] » Thank y'all very much.
>> Thank you. Appreciate it. Good to meet
[1:54:15] y'all.
>> Yeah. Good. Thank y'all for coming out.
[1:54:18] » Yes, sir. [clears throat]
>> Okay, let's take a little break right
[1:54:23] now. You want to go into
[2:07:20] Okay, Commissioner's Court back in
session at 11:08.
[2:07:25] I'm here. Any commissioner wish to make
a motion? I move that we
[2:07:32] award Ketchel
[2:07:36] as the
RFQ 2026-04
[2:07:42] construction manager owner agent.
>> Second.
[2:07:48] I second the motion.
>> Any further discussion?
[2:07:53] » Yeah, I I want I would like to add this.
I would prefer to have some more time to
[2:07:59] um
follow up on what we've seen today
[2:08:05] um and make the award at at a future
court.
[2:08:09] I know you got a motion on the table to
vote on, but that's I'm just putting
[2:08:13] that into the record.
[2:08:17] » I agree with that that we talked about
following up with references.
[2:08:23] Haven't really had time to do that.
[2:08:39] taking a couple weeks. Make sure we get
this right.
[2:08:51] » My motion.
>> Okay. Motion with drawn. I hear a motion
[2:08:54] in the table.
>> So, um I'll move that we uh
[2:09:00] reschedu this to have time to review uh
what we've seen today.
[2:09:08] » 3:24. That's the next course.
>> That's fine. If you want a date certain
[2:09:13] 324 is fine.
made by Commissioner Eagle to
[2:09:19] uh to to reschedule a table until March
24, 2020
[2:09:26] six commissioner court meeting. Second
by Commissioner Annual Samuelson. Any
[2:09:30] further discussion?
>> All those in favor say I.
[2:09:34] » I.
>> All those opposed say nay. Motion is
[2:09:38] granted is moves unanimously. Thank
you'all all for coming down.
[2:09:42] [clears throat]
[2:09:45] Okay,
Glenn,
[2:09:49] you want to come up here and give us a
short statement on this
[2:10:00] item is receive presentations from and
conduct Q&A with shortlisted vendors in
[2:10:05] response to RFQ202603
P25 radio consultant. The court may
[2:10:10] award an award at this time or at a
later date. Yes, sir.
[2:10:14] » Yes. Good morning. Uh so, uh similar to
what we just did with the construction
[2:10:19] management, uh we put out an RFQ for P2
P25 radio network consulting services.
[2:10:27] And uh we have four of the four of the
firms here today to give you a a
[2:10:31] 15minute presentation one at a time. And
uh we'll move forward starting with TUSA
[2:10:37] Consulting Services.
[2:10:42] » Okay.
[2:10:53] Do you have a list of how many different
people?
[2:10:56] » Just four.
>> Four.
[2:11:00] » Oh, okay.
Oh, I see. Yeah.
[2:11:48] Is it still morning or is it's getting
close afternoon? Good morning. How you
[2:11:51] doing?
[laughter]
[2:11:55] » It did. What amazing what an hour can do
for us. Uh my name is Dean Hart um with
[2:12:01] TUSA Consulting. Um please next slide.
I've got Norm Fulier with me. Um Jeff
[2:12:10] McN couldn't make it today, but the team
you see on the board, two of us are here
[2:12:15] and the third one's there. Between the
three of us, we probably got a close to
[2:12:21] 120 years of experience. So, I always
jokingly say if anybody knows why I'm
[2:12:26] grumpy, it's because I've been doing
this for a long time. So, next slide,
[2:12:29] please. You know, why do we think people
should hire TUSA? Uh from my experience,
[2:12:34] I've sat across the room. I've been a
customer dealing with what you're
[2:12:39] dealing with today. Uh I've been on the
vendor side, having built large
[2:12:43] projects. I've been on the consultant
side with a very independent
[2:12:48] perspective. Um you I like to keep the
lighter side. Uh if you ever want to
[2:12:52] read a Still Water quote, I was asked by
a commissioner one time if I was biased
[2:12:56] and I told him I was. I hate all these
vendors equally. So we truly are
[2:13:00] agnostic. Um we're here to serve you and
the citizens you serve as well.
[2:13:07] Um, another reason of TUSA is uh, you
know, we look at the worst case when
[2:13:12] public safety's having their worst times
is typically when something bad has
[2:13:18] happened. And so we focus on power,
connectivity, all those things that need
[2:13:23] to work when times are worst in Hood
County or anywhere. So I know you guys
[2:13:29] have dealt with a lot of uh, flooding
and different things in this state. You
[2:13:33] know, it's it's sad to see that, but we
focus on communications working reliably
[2:13:38] when times are bad. Next, please.
Um, again, our procurement
[2:13:44] methodologies, we're vendor neutral.
We're standardsbased. We're not the
[2:13:48] engineering team that wants to come and
reinvent the wheel. Um, we know how the
[2:13:52] world's working out there. We've worked
for the vendors. Um, in five years of
[2:13:57] procurement side, we've been challenged
five times. The vendors are 0 for five.
[2:14:01] So, you know, the customer wins out on
what they want to do. Next, please.
[2:14:08] TUSA started in 1992. Um, uh, TUSA is
actually not an acronym. It's a
[2:14:14] gentleman's name. He was a founder, Nick
Tusa. Um, he came off of the platforms
[2:14:18] in the Gulf in the, uh, oil industry.
Um, he lost a friend on a rig due to
[2:14:25] poor communications. and it really kind
of said his mention mission that public
[2:14:29] safety needs to communicate and it needs
to be reliable. So that was kind of the
[2:14:34] founding principles. Next please.
We're a company of first. I mean um I'm
[2:14:40] leaving the proposal if you guys want to
see that. But I mean we've done a lot of
[2:14:44] things in the leading edge. Um uh we
feel our competitors follow us in many
[2:14:49] cases. So we're proud of those and
mention those. Next please.
[2:14:55] Um, TUSA was recently acquired by a
company called ACG and that's literally
[2:15:00] been within the last 30 days. Um, ACG is
on the federal side of business. Um,
[2:15:06] they do a lot of commercial work in the
airports. They're they're deep into
[2:15:10] Dallas. Um, they're doing a lot of
custom uh, uh, border patrol work uh,
[2:15:16] enhancing uh, mission critical
communications along the border. Uh,
[2:15:20] they bring a lot of engineering support
to us consultants in the background. And
[2:15:25] so we were we were happy with that
merger. We're proud of that merger. Um
[2:15:29] we look at them being a proud partner
with us. Next, please.
[2:15:35] You know, why is TUSA different
specifically in Texas? Um we've worked
[2:15:39] several projects in Texas. Um the recent
one being the city of Waco. So Waco had
[2:15:46] started out with their own radio system
and then Mlennon County joined in. Um,
[2:15:50] I'm seeing some similar things as I've
read through your RFP and and as I read
[2:15:54] through the Avesta report, uh, that we
pulled just to get a little bit of
[2:15:58] history of what was going on here and
why you guys were looking at a
[2:16:02] consultant. Uh, again, ACG has got a lot
of Texas experience, too, to to back us
[2:16:08] up if we need it. Um, I'm pretty sure we
can handle this one. Um, next, please.
[2:16:15] You know, I look at what you guys are
doing and what I call decision point
[2:16:18] crossroads. Um, you guys are really
looking at how you want to handle your
[2:16:23] public safety communication system for
the next 15 to 20 years. Um, the life
[2:16:28] cycle of equipment typically goes 15 to
20 years. We like to give you that road
[2:16:33] map uh as part of that decision tree so
a board such as this can sit there and
[2:16:40] know what their costs are going to be
and plan for that over the long term.
[2:16:44] Um, we can tell you what the capital
expense for something new or what
[2:16:48] something's going to happen today, but
you've got to plan for the long-term
[2:16:51] sustainment of your radio system. Uh,
you don't buy a new firet truck and not
[2:16:55] change the oil.
Um, you know, what we're finding out
[2:17:00] anymore with the P25 standards is
technology really isn't the primary
[2:17:04] failure point anymore. It really is
governance. [snorts] And, uh, so we know
[2:17:09] that that's important. um the ability to
make decisions for your public safety
[2:17:15] group as well as potentially having a
good partner um for cost savings because
[2:17:20] this stuff is expensive and it has to be
maintained and it's really a big IT
[2:17:25] system anymore with radios off the end
of it and so we think that that
[2:17:29] governance is important. I mean, as a
primary example, uh, Miami, the city of
[2:17:35] Miami, uh, very, very independent, but
they've been able to partner with Miami
[2:17:40] Beach and Hyia to create a governance
where they're all sharing radio system.
[2:17:44] Now, there's cost savings in that, but
there's also governance in that. And as
[2:17:50] there they had a very goodou in place as
that administration changed, the
[2:17:54] administration didn't know the history
and we're going back in now and helping
[2:17:58] them tweak thatou uh get better pricing
as a big regional system instead of a
[2:18:04] bunch of little independent systems and
uh we're helping them with an update on
[2:18:08] that. So governance in my mind is a
little bit evolutionary. Um it's got to
[2:18:13] be consistently reviewed and maintained
and updated as administrations change.
[2:18:19] um to to let people know the history and
and keep it carrying keeping that
[2:18:23] partnership carrying forward,
you know, and that's and part of that is
[2:18:28] control. So, you know, your decision
points from what we read, we we need to
[2:18:33] evaluate the uh Granberry participation
and how you guys are a part of that. Um
[2:18:39] governance, authority, and
decision-making control should be equal
[2:18:43] partners in that. We want to we want to
look through that and and give
[2:18:46] recommendations. Again, life cycle
sustainability.
[2:18:50] Your investments got to be maintained.
Um what are those long-term obligations
[2:18:56] and really the ability to in so if if
somebody's over the core, the ability to
[2:19:01] influence that and make sure that the
operations are made for your public
[2:19:04] safety officials as well as anybody else
that may be a partner of that system. So
[2:19:10] we've seen this in in counties where
multiple agencies are done across
[2:19:14] multiple counties. Some cases the state
of Minnesota is probably the the best
[2:19:18] case. Literally that whole state is one
big radio system including the
[2:19:23] municipalities. Uh that's taken a long
time and and they're they're at a
[2:19:28] crossroads in similar ways you are.
So how do we look at that? We
[2:19:33] investigate. Um we interview and we
inspect. So we want to see what your
[2:19:37] current system is. We want to interview
the operational users and the decision
[2:19:42] makers to know what the goal is. Um look
at the current governance and the cost
[2:19:48] and how things were being done through
the contracts. I mean that's that's
[2:19:53] that's simple but it's we get into a lot
of detail to uh g gather that
[2:19:58] information and make uh recommendations
that allow you guys to make informed
[2:20:03] decisions. Next, please.
What you will know at the end is we're
[2:20:09] going to look at continuing current
participation or do we to modify the
[2:20:13] governance or do we pursue a hybrid
model? You know, maybe they still got
[2:20:17] their system and you got your system and
they're still tied together and
[2:20:20] everybody can interoperate but your
manager and your resources, they're
[2:20:24] managing theirs. opportunities for scale
that other counties may be able to do
[2:20:29] this or just transition to a county
owned model and then you would proceed
[2:20:34] to a procurement from the
recommendations that we look to provide.
[2:20:40] Next, please. So, we view this a 90-day
completion. Um, we want to we want to be
[2:20:46] a prioritized engagement. I'm not the
fancy suit that comes in and impresses
[2:20:51] you and hands another team. Two of your
team members are right here. We welcome
[2:20:56] detailed questions of how we're going to
handle your project. Um, so that's
[2:21:01] direct accountability to the team and
then uh we'll give clear defensible
[2:21:06] recommendations. I mean they'll be uh we
speak it, we speak radio, we speak
[2:21:11] boards. So we can we can sit there and
provide that interpretation to you as
[2:21:16] part of this project. Next, please.
And uh I'm open for any questions you
[2:21:23] guys may have as part of this
[2:21:29] » last page of your document that you
submitted. Um it sounded like you were
[2:21:38] just stopping at the assessment phase.
is it says this needs assessment report
[2:21:43] will address system performance
and then at the conclusion of that phase
[2:21:49] county will be positioned determine
whether to and then it talks about all
[2:21:54] the other steps.
>> So ma'am we we look at we we could we
[2:21:59] can provide all that we can easily get
you to the next phase where you're
[2:22:03] operational. We like to prove ourselves
first and then we sit there and provide
[2:22:09] those next steps as part of that as part
of that recommendation in the first
[2:22:14] step.
>> But we already did the assessment with a
[2:22:19] you read that report.
>> Yes ma'am.
[2:22:22] So we're so you know when I we look at
consulting in three phases I call it
[2:22:27] needs assessment, procurement and then
implementation. So we're we're still
[2:22:31] coming in to do some level of needs
assessment based on the technologies and
[2:22:36] those different things. There will be
recommendations and cost that then will
[2:22:41] allow you guys to say I really want to
go to option two and here's the
[2:22:46] associated cost with that. At that point
then if if you're happy with our
[2:22:51] services which we believe you would be
we'll continue on then and give you a
[2:22:54] quote for that next step
>> which is what
[2:22:57] » would be the procurement side of it.
>> Okay. because that's not what this last
[2:23:01] page says. Or else I'm just reading it
wrong.
[2:23:03] » Well, you're you're reading what we're
going to give you out of this this first
[2:23:07] phase.
>> Okay. What we needed based on the RFQ
[2:23:11] was a full evaluation of the options
with pros and cons and costs associated
[2:23:16] with each one of those options.
>> And that's that's what you're going to
[2:23:19] get out of this.
>> That's not what you're
[2:23:24] that's what we call our needs assessment
phase one. We come in and identify what
[2:23:29] potential cost would be estimated cost.
Next phase takes it to an RFP
[2:23:35] procurement phase. That's what that
means. Phase one, maybe it's not labeled
[2:23:40] correctly. We apologize for that, but
that's exactly what you said is what we
[2:23:46] call our phase one.
>> So, when we when we present to you at
[2:23:49] the end of this, we're going to tell you
what your options are and what those
[2:23:52] costs are
>> for each of the options. Yes, ma'am.
[2:23:55] Which are what are the options in your
mind?
[2:23:58] um
stay the course, um go on your own or or
[2:24:04] potentially a hybrid of that. In my
mind, those are really the the three
[2:24:09] main options.
>> Go on our own with what?
[2:24:12] » So, you would own your own radio system
and manage your own radio system. You
[2:24:16] would not be a a partner with GRRN.
>> Okay. And are there sub options within
[2:24:21] there?
>> Sure. And as we got we got to gather
[2:24:24] some more data. I mean that's we we got
to
[2:24:28] you guys were high level that report
gave some good information but that
[2:24:32] report was talking I'm going to say more
IT language than radio language and so
[2:24:37] and that report was talking I'm going to
say in part this sounds bad but it
[2:24:43] seemed like there was conflict between
Granberry and Hood County in that report
[2:24:47] that we read from A Vista.
>> So we're going to try to dig into that a
[2:24:51] little bit deeper between Granberry and
Hood County. see where, you know, at one
[2:24:56] point it looked like there was technical
issues that Hood County didn't even have
[2:25:00] access to the radio system and they were
using security and all that. I I don't
[2:25:04] get that because we've got big huge
radio systems where every customer has
[2:25:09] view into the network for their
particular components that they're
[2:25:13] taking care of. So, I don't know where
that's coming from. I don't know if
[2:25:17] that's a vendor trying to make more
money to sit there and do other things.
[2:25:21] I I don't know. And that's that's the
detail we got to dig into and find out.
[2:25:26] » My understanding of [clears throat]
what we're looking for here is exactly
[2:25:32] that. What are our options going forward
and and how do we fit into that? what's
[2:25:39] the most
bang for best bang for the buck I guess
[2:25:43] they were looking for and um that
>> so yeah my my understanding was that you
[2:25:48] would need to do some analysis on on
where we are currently with the
[2:25:51] structure and what it would take to
if we did break away fill in the gaps
[2:25:57] that that may leave or whatever
structurally or systematically to make
[2:26:00] sure that everything still
>> right
[2:26:02] » provided the coverage that we needed but
then to come in and look at it uh from a
[2:26:07] cost analysis of what each of these
steps would take and and what would be
[2:26:12] the pros and cons of those.
>> Yes. And that's that's the detailed
[2:26:14] report at the end. Yes, sir.
>> Okay.
[2:26:19] » Yeah. I mean, asus are developed with
partnerships, you know, we sit there and
[2:26:24] say you're really creating a 15-year
marriage, not only with your vendor, but
[2:26:28] with the partners you sign up with. And
divorce can be expensive. You need to
[2:26:33] know what that expense is. You need to
know what your options are so you can
[2:26:38] continue your mission and support your
public safety. We'll give each one of
[2:26:42] those with details and and associated
costs and there may be even
[2:26:47] recommendations on the governance side
that says if you want to stay the course
[2:26:51] here's are things that you should
consider and you know what Granberry you
[2:26:54] should consider that too. Mhm.
>> So, you're saying at the end of 90 days,
[2:26:58] we'll have a report that shows
three to four to five options with costs
[2:27:05] associated with each one, pros and cons
and risks for each one.
[2:27:10] » Yes, ma'am.
[2:27:13] » I would I would like to include the the
just to make sure that we have all the
[2:27:19] bases covered. The fourth Fort Worth
system isn't far away. What it would
[2:27:23] take to No, we we we we look at those
again. We like to give you your options
[2:27:29] and let you make informed decisions
again based on governance, partnerships,
[2:27:33] and and associated costs.
>> I was asking what the options were
[2:27:38] because they were weren't they outlined
in the RFP in the RFQ?
[2:27:43] » Yeah. I mean, we
>> some of the options.
[2:27:46] » Yeah. I think there was something in
there that said any other viable option
[2:27:51] that may come up
>> staying with Granberry
[2:27:55] doing our own core with the current
L3 Harris
[2:27:59] » joining North Texas Fort Worth whatever
we want to call it
[2:28:03] » or even a competitive model of switching
vendors right yes ma'am
[2:28:07] » so any of those
>> yeah that's that's the deliverables and
[2:28:10] decision outcomes on that last on
section C the very last page I think
[2:28:15] you're referring too.
>> Yeah, it just just said completion of
[2:28:20] this work does not. So, I thought that
it looked like all you were going to do
[2:28:24] at the this 90 days was the assessment
and then
[2:28:28] » we we hope to prove our point and you
guys say, "Hey, thank you for great
[2:28:32] recommendations and costs. We've been
able to make decisions. What's what's it
[2:28:35] going to be to take the next step
>> and and as as part of details, if you
[2:28:40] want pricing and further work on that,
um that's that's easy to do. But cost
[2:28:45] estimates, you're going to have to do
some kind of pricing to get cost
[2:28:47] estimates.
>> Um, we we we know what those costs are.
[2:28:51] » Okay. So, I just want to be clear
because this last page of your document
[2:28:55] doesn't
conform with what I thought you were
[2:29:01] going to provide. So, you're telling me
verbally that you're going to do this,
[2:29:05] and I think Commissioner Andrew said the
same thing. What we thought this was is
[2:29:10] a full analysis of all the options which
you have to do
[2:29:14] » assessment of our current option but we
got current state what are the options
[2:29:18] for future state how much will estimate
will each one of those cost what's the
[2:29:22] timeline for each one of those estimates
and what are the pros and cons
[2:29:26] » correct
>> okay that's
[2:29:27] » and I and I take that for granted so I I
see where that's where we're not saying
[2:29:32] that direct as you've said so we we are
providing that
[2:29:35] » and that will be all done in 90 days
>> yes Okay.
[2:29:42] Oh,
didn't even ask asked my questions that
[2:29:46] I was going to ask. Um,
[2:29:53] so I think you answered how you maintain
strict independence with your vendors.
[2:29:57] You said you don't like
>> I hate I hate them all equally. So
[2:30:01] tongue and cheek. So
>> it made the newspaper the next day.
[2:30:04] » Oh, okay.
>> Yeah. for for once the newspaper quoted
[2:30:08] somebody correctly.
>> Okay. So, give an example of a project
[2:30:11] where you had to navigate potential
conflicts of interest. What was the
[2:30:15] situation and how do you did you handle
it?
[2:30:17] » So, right now that's currently going on
in Miami. Um they had theirou
[2:30:23] administration changed. They got a new
fire chief and she did not like um Miami
[2:30:29] was the leader of it. They had the
primary core and then Miami Beach and
[2:30:34] Hyalia were off of that core with their
RF network. So they were using that
[2:30:39] central core and then they built the the
uh radio sites for their coverage,
[2:30:44] excuse me, in their city. So with that
new administration,
[2:30:48] um they didn't understand theou. They
didn't understand the cost sharing that
[2:30:52] was supposed to be done. And the city of
Miami thought that Miami Beach and Hyia
[2:30:57] was supposed to pay for the core. And I
said, "No, wait a minute. They're not.
[2:31:01] It's you're supposed to share the cost
of that three ways." And so we're now
[2:31:06] updating that for the new
administration. We've gotten the vendor,
[2:31:09] which is L3 Harris, by the way, there
too, um, to break out what that core
[2:31:14] cost is separate from what their radio
systems are. So they they know now what
[2:31:20] that core cost is to maintain and
sustain and what their obligation is
[2:31:24] which is they divide it by three instead
of one agency paying for all of it.
[2:31:29] » Okay.
>> So what is your method for evaluating
[2:31:34] the alternatives?
How do you assess advantages and
[2:31:38] disadvantages trade-off risks etc? Uh I
mean part of it is is looking to see I'm
[2:31:45] going to say where there may be conflict
within the agencies themselves. So
[2:31:48] digging down a little bit deeper into
the technical views as well as the
[2:31:52] administrative views. Where's why are we
why are we here today? And then looking
[2:31:58] at you know hey here's the way the rest
of the world does it. Um, here's here's
[2:32:03] things that you may be able to change in
this governance where you can continue
[2:32:07] the course and but here's also ways of
cost models where you've got a core.
[2:32:14] Everybody that's on that core should
share in that cost and then you should
[2:32:18] have coverage for your areas that you're
covering. Obviously Hood County is Hood
[2:32:22] County. Um, Granberry is their city. Um,
other agency was that join what would be
[2:32:27] their particular needs. So what is your
particular needs? What are you going to
[2:32:32] maintain or sustain as part of a county
and what are the shared components? So,
[2:32:37] how should I break out that cost model
for that shared component?
[2:32:42] And a Kansas City Mars region is a good
example of that. I mean, the the
[2:32:47] Missouri side has four counties,
probably about 30 agencies, and Kansas
[2:32:53] City owns the core. And so they use
ports off of that core to run their
[2:32:58] radio system and run their 911 center.
And that core runs about a half a
[2:33:04] million dollars a year to maintain. But
it's divided by 32 because there's 32
[2:33:09] people participating. So instead of one
agency eating all that cost is and
[2:33:14] that's what you face if you become
standalone, it's they paying 132nd of it
[2:33:19] which is a tremendous cost savings to
the taxpayer in the region there. So
[2:33:23] there's another. So we helped show that
cost model as well that if you if you
[2:33:28] stay the course and you and you and the
partners stay together, here's how we
[2:33:32] think you should share costs and we'll
give you examples of that from way other
[2:33:36] people are doing it. Uh we did that
similar in Payne County. New radio
[2:33:40] system coming up. the county supporting
most of it, but the city of Stillwater
[2:33:45] and Cushing and Perkins and Gleno are
all and the rural fires are all sharing
[2:33:51] in that overall cost to maintain the
system. So, the county uh put the system
[2:33:57] out there and they said, "Hey, we got to
have this for county anyway, but all the
[2:34:01] agencies that now are benefiting from
the coverage and the way the system
[2:34:04] works, we want you to help pay for the
ongoing service and maintenance of the
[2:34:08] system." And that's part of what we look
at in that that 10 to 15 year cost as
[2:34:13] well.
>> Where where are your employees located?
[2:34:17] » I'm out of Kansas City. Um Norm is out
of Keller, Texas. Um Jeff
[2:34:24] » Yeah, Jeff McN is is also out of Kansas
City area. I've got consultants in North
[2:34:29] Carolina and California. Um Missouri,
Kansas.
[2:34:34] » Okay.
Thank you.
[2:34:38] Um,
how will we um be updated on the
[2:34:42] progress? [snorts]
>> However you want to be updated.
[2:34:46] » Do you have a standard format that you
>> We like to give up we like to give
[2:34:50] weekly updates to the stakeholders. So,
whoever you tell me is my point of
[2:34:54] contact, we want to give weekly updates
to. Um if there's if we think we're
[2:34:59] making progress somewhere in the middle
and the stakeholders believe it's it's
[2:35:03] pertinent to come back to this group um
we welcome that. Um we we are very open
[2:35:10] to advising you on what your next steps
are and what we view as the issues that
[2:35:16] have gotten to this point. So, do you
have a sample of a road map or something
[2:35:21] from past projects that you can share of
how you communicated, how you kept us
[2:35:26] informed of status?
>> Would you like me to share it with
[2:35:28] » Yes, Kermit? Absolutely. We'll get that.
We'll get that to you ASAP.
[2:35:32] » Okay.
[2:35:38] Is this really a like an incremental
approach or report periodically or
[2:35:49] trying to see what this looks like on
the back end? Don't you just come in and
[2:35:53] say, "Okay, if you choose option A,
here's here's your costs, your pros,
[2:35:58] your cons, you know, that kind of thing.
Is there somewhere between that makes
[2:36:05] » here's our process. So as part of and we
call this a phase one. So we would sit
[2:36:10] there and give whoever's going to be the
key stakeholder or the lead that's the
[2:36:14] sheriff. We would give him that hey we
want to come in and we want to look at
[2:36:17] all this stuff. We're also going to do
an online survey that's going to come
[2:36:21] out and and go out to the participating
with a with a key set of questions
[2:36:25] specific to this project.
So that usually happens within the first
[2:36:31] month. Um then we look at that when we
read through the surveys we come in and
[2:36:36] schedule face toface and uh and again
that could be with the board. Um you
[2:36:42] know hey we read this what did you know
there may be follow-up questions what
[2:36:45] does this mean? You know, in the
meantime, by virtue of we visited the
[2:36:50] sites and we understand the technology
and we understand the goals of where
[2:36:54] you're trying to achieve, we start
giving that technical side of it of
[2:36:59] here's your options and here's the
associated costs. So, we've done the
[2:37:03] site visits, we've done the interviews
with the key stakeholders and the
[2:37:06] participants, and that's everybody
that's involved. And then in the
[2:37:11] meantime, we've been working on the
details of the cost. And then after
[2:37:16] that, after we do the face toface, then
we follow up shortly then with a
[2:37:21] detailed report of all the things that
we've been talking about.
[2:37:39] » Else have any questions?
>> Okay. Thank you very much.
[2:37:42] » Thank you. We appreciate the
opportunity. Okay.
[2:37:55] » Okay. Perfect. Thank you. Thank you
everybody.
[2:37:57] » Thank you.
[2:38:28] Yes, sir. Come on down.
[2:38:39] » Good morning.
>> It's uh
[2:38:44] Okay.
Oh, good. Okay. I uh sent in uh emailed
[2:38:50] the presentation. [cough] We received
it.
[2:38:53] » Okay.
>> Uh Mr. Tilman.
[2:38:57] » Oh, go ahead.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I could email I could email
[2:39:01] it again.
[2:39:05] » Oh, sure.
[2:39:15] Oh, I'm sorry. I should have I should
have brought in uh
[2:39:20] Okay, let me forward it on
[2:40:04] While the presentation's coming in, I
take a minute to introduce myself and uh
[2:40:11] first of all um like to thank the
commission for giving me the opportunity
[2:40:15] to come in here. It's an honor and a
pleasure to present to you. Uh my name
[2:40:20] is David Ruez. I am the owner of
Drewbridge LLC.
[2:40:25] The company is uh headquartered in the
New York metropolitan area.
[2:40:31] Uh I've been in business I'm kind of
preempting the slide deck, but I figured
[2:40:35] we in the in the essence of time we jump
right in. Um we've been in business
[2:40:42] since 2019. We are a young company up
and coming. We do uh the majority of our
[2:40:50] business with the New York Police
Department,
[2:40:55] uh New York Fire Department and do it.
It's been primarily where uh the
[2:41:00] majority of our uh of our work has been
done over the last uh several years. Uh
[2:41:06] we uh I personally have been in the
communications industry, the public
[2:41:11] safety communications industry for 30
years. I graduated from uh Newark
[2:41:15] College of Engineering uh also known as
the New Jersey Institute of Technology
[2:41:20] in 1990
and um since uh then I started uh at um
[2:41:28] engineering career at Motorola Solutions
and very fortunate I was able to uh work
[2:41:36] at Motorola Solutions for 30 years. Uh I
was involved in a multitude of projects
[2:41:43] uh up and down the coast and across the
United States. Uh working on engineering
[2:41:49] efforts uh helping Motorola with
maintenance and operations planning
[2:41:54] uh some contract planning uh contractual
language changes, change management,
[2:42:00] things of that nature. Um what we'll see
here when we pull up the presentation is
[2:42:06] I'd like to step the commission through
the basically the the the philosophy and
[2:42:11] the concept of myself and I say myself
uh that would be my company because it
[2:42:17] is my company and I am driving the
company towards a uh towards a uh
[2:42:24] hopefully a future that'll be reflective
of how I view communications and what my
[2:42:30] understanding is of public safety
communications. S. So, um, again, to
[2:42:35] preempt the the slide deck, and I'll
kind of walk you guys through real quick
[2:42:38] when the slide deck does come up, but
just to give you an idea, uh, in my my
[2:42:44] entire career has been spent on public
safety communications.
[2:42:50] And, um, I tried getting out a couple of
times, but I wasn't no luck. I was
[2:42:56] dragged right back in. um and ultimately
ended up in now after my 30th year in
[2:43:02] the business ended up working still on
public safety communications of course
[2:43:08] in a different different capacity. Uh
currently I'm involved more in a
[2:43:13] consulting and uh financial uh
representation of what it is that is
[2:43:18] involved with the P25 networks.
But uh nonetheless um as I indicated
[2:43:24] before I I am very fortunate. My career
has span uh spanned across uh a
[2:43:30] multitude of different uh um
different uh backgrounds if you call it
[2:43:38] for the sake of a better word. But I've
been um I was involved for an extended
[2:43:44] amount of time in the design and
building of the public safety networks.
[2:43:49] I've got a background also which uh I'm
trying very hard to instill on the
[2:43:54] company a background in project
management and deployment
[2:43:58] um and uh also in change management
which uh if you spend any time with uh
[2:44:05] working on these communication networks
what you realize is that it's it's the
[2:44:10] the system
is uh really uh when you look at a at a
[2:44:16] P25 network for public safety
operations. You've got to consider a not
[2:44:22] only a hardened network, a network
that's going to operate under duress,
[2:44:27] but you've got to consider uh the
long-term maintenance serviceability of
[2:44:32] the network, what your long-term plans
are, and as you move into the future, uh
[2:44:39] that you understand what your financial
requirements are with these public
[2:44:42] safety networks. Because one of the
shortcomings that I had seen I have seen
[2:44:48] actually throughout my career uh is
customers getting into these public
[2:44:53] safety P25 networks these modern
technology laden very technology laden
[2:44:59] networks and not understanding that
there are issues that have to be
[2:45:04] addressed down the road and these could
become very very complicated. The issues
[2:45:10] could range from technology obsolescence
in in the sense of your boxes are going
[2:45:18] to have to be replaced on a 3 to 5 year
time frame. Uh the communications
[2:45:24] network and and the what we're really
looking at here and I'm going to jump
[2:45:29] around a little bit for the sake of
time. Oh, it's okay. I'm I'm going
[2:45:32] through the entire presentation anyway.
So it it'll give you a the goal here is
[2:45:37] to give you a good idea of basically my
presentation was how do I approach this?
[2:45:43] So I'll I'll just verbalize it and lay
it out for for the commission.
[2:45:48] um the the long-term s the issue with
the comm networks, the the modern public
[2:45:57] safety communications networks is that
you're dealing with two components
[2:46:06] where in the past if you bought a radio
network for example in 1975 1980 that
[2:46:14] network you could potentially get 20 30
years out of that infrastructure and uh
[2:46:20] because it was a tech technology
platform at the time and we didn't have
[2:46:26] the advancements
in uh in in networking equipment and all
[2:46:32] the changes in technology. What's
happening today is your P25 network and
[2:46:37] and I know that the county operates as
part of the the Granberry P25 network.
[2:46:42] your P25 network
is very technology intensive. So when
[2:46:49] you analyze a system uh any system that
you move into, what you're really
[2:46:56] looking at is a civil infrastructure and
this is what really makes radio
[2:47:02] communications challenging and unique.
The uniqueness of radio communications
[2:47:08] is that unlike an enterprise network
that the county might procure to do its
[2:47:14] file maintenance and its legality and
data storage, the radio communications
[2:47:19] network has a civil component associated
with it. The civil component has to be
[2:47:26] analyzed and maintained and built in the
similar with a similar mindset that you
[2:47:33] would build a you would build, excuse
me, the the radio infrastructure. So
[2:47:39] often you go into the design of a radio
network and you're thinking, well, I've
[2:47:44] got my sightes taken care of, my
coverage is in pretty good shape, and
[2:47:49] I've got good microwave and that's
great. That's only one half of the
[2:47:54] story. The other half of the story is
what happens to this network over time.
[2:47:59] And the the reason you've got to
consider the evolution of the network
[2:48:04] over time is because the RA modern radio
communication systems are are are
[2:48:10] basically network platforms. They're
enterprise platforms that uh interface
[2:48:17] to an RF world. And that's what you're
dealing with. you're dealing with the
[2:48:21] outside world, which is your towers,
your generators, your shelters, uh your
[2:48:27] radio, your RF world, communicating out
with your deputies and the other county
[2:48:32] employees, and you're dealing with an
inside enterprise network. Now, that
[2:48:37] introduces several challenges to the
communications owner and to the
[2:48:43] communications companies that actually
uh build these networks. So, as a as a
[2:48:50] as an owner of a public safety hardened
P25 network, you've got to plan for
[2:49:00] multiple aspects of what I call ob
obsolescence.
[2:49:04] There's software maintenance that has to
be installed in these networks and it's
[2:49:08] got to be considered. Most vendors
today, the two primary vendors obviously
[2:49:13] Motorola Solutions
and Harris all uh work on a software
[2:49:19] maintenance platform and and the updates
Thank you. the updates could be on a uh
[2:49:26] on a um on a s by annual basis or they
could be annually. The other issue you
[2:49:32] have Thank you by the way. The other
issue you have uh is that the uh you've
[2:49:40] got to also consider beyond standard
software maintenance. You've got to
[2:49:45] consider uh [snorts] technology refresh.
Your servers, your switches,
[2:49:51] your uh routers, your security
components of the network are all being
[2:49:57] refreshed over time. And that's not a
something that the vendors really want
[2:50:03] to do. It's something that industry
forces them to do. Technology changes
[2:50:07] and being that the P25 network is so
network intensive, the P25 system, I
[2:50:13] should say, is so network intensive, it
requires you to keep up with the modern
[2:50:21] uh the modern deployment of of these
networks. So, so what what happens is
[2:50:26] over time when you own one of these
communication networks, you've got to
[2:50:33] worry about um you've got to consider
not only the serviceability, the
[2:50:40] daytoday
maintenance of the network, break fix,
[2:50:45] having somebody available when a base
station goes down, uh or you you've got
[2:50:50] to replace an antenna, things of that
nature. These are the daily requirements
[2:50:54] to a communications network. You also
have to plan for your software upgrades.
[2:51:00] You've got to plan for your technology
refresh upgrades. And you've got to plan
[2:51:06] I think one of the things that many
public safety agencies tend to overlook
[2:51:10] is the human capital associated with the
management of these networks. So you've
[2:51:17] got to have a team in house, not
necessarily to respond on a 7 by 24
[2:51:23] basis to go out there and fix because
there are many service centers uh across
[2:51:28] the country and both Harris and Motorola
have service shops that can come in and
[2:51:33] take care of your day-to-day. But
management of these networks is
[2:51:38] extremely crucial. And one of the things
that you don't want to do is you don't
[2:51:44] want to pass off management to just the
communication shop, the local
[2:51:51] communication shop. As good as they are,
there's too many things on the customer
[2:51:56] side that have to be addressed.
Um, actually the previous slide was a
[2:52:02] probably a good place for me to start.
Um, and I think the slide before that
[2:52:08] was uh where our experience is. I I'll
take a minute or so and talk through
[2:52:14] what it is we're doing. I deliberately
selected these four projects because
[2:52:20] they're all different in their own ways.
We just we were awarded it was
[2:52:24] heartbreaking. We were awarded uh the
islandwide design for for Puerto Rico.
[2:52:30] It was a Department of Homeland Security
grant that was given to the uh company
[2:52:37] we partnered with and we designed the
entire communication system uh all the
[2:52:43] the sites uh the coverage for the entire
island of Puerto Rico. We ended up with
[2:52:48] a 65 site design uh to provide portable
in street coverage over six simoccast
[2:52:55] cells uh redundant core networks. You
guys are probably familiar with the
[2:53:00] Granberry having the core uh with
redundant core networks and five or six
[2:53:05] dispatch center locations.
There was a technicality in that we we
[2:53:11] believed we were able to partner with uh
a local uh island engineering firm
[2:53:18] certified civil engineering firm
professional. Turned out that we were
[2:53:22] not. It turned out that what they were
really looking for was for the
[2:53:26] engineering firm to be the lead on the
project. The award was recanted. Uh we
[2:53:33] had to rebid. We we rebid with a very
good firm, but uh to no avail. They
[2:53:39] decided to go in another direction. But
I wanted to put it up there as uh one of
[2:53:44] our I mean I'm think one of our uh one
of our wins for 2025 even though the the
[2:53:52] project was not awarded to us. State of
Maryland public safety system. Now this
[2:53:56] one I wanted to put up there as well. Um
I was uh primarily responsible on the
[2:54:02] state of Maryland system for designing
their maintenance and operations
[2:54:05] program. It was uh designing and laying
out. I did not do the work. As a
[2:54:12] Motorolan uh big team comes in, as you
guys are probably familiar, similar to
[2:54:16] Harris, they've got project managers,
engineers, salespeople.
[2:54:21] My job was to design the 10-year
maintenance and operations program. And
[2:54:24] it was a tremendous experience because I
was able to really analyze what it took
[2:54:31] to facilitate and maintain uh these
networks in the during the uh the second
[2:54:38] half of their existence during
maintenance and operations. So I did
[2:54:41] that. Um, the other thing I did which
was uh pretty pretty uh educational I
[2:54:50] would say was I ran uh two of Motorola's
teams uh the fire department team and uh
[2:54:56] the dick team in New York City. I was
lead project manager. I was in charge of
[2:55:00] the teams and uh we engaged in several
upgrades, fire and uh do it upgrades and
[2:55:09] uh one of the upgrades uh in particular
was uh the P25 upgrade of a citywide of
[2:55:16] the citywide fire department uh system.
So PM team under myself uh was actually
[2:55:23] handling the deployment.
More recently, the fourth project, the
[2:55:28] base station replacement was when uh
kicked off when I started the company
[2:55:33] and uh they contracted us to handle all
the project management and um facility
[2:55:41] management on uh in one of their staging
facilities in New York City. So, we ran
[2:55:47] this is an extremely large project for
the New York Police Department. They
[2:55:51] replaced all of their uh analog
infrastructure with P25. Uh it was a
[2:55:57] mild migration. Uh at first the uh uh
the the first phase of the project was
[2:56:03] to bring in the P2 the cabinets, install
them. Second phase was to do the P25
[2:56:09] upgrade where they would bring the
analog up to the digital platform.
[2:56:14] And um so it was was intriguing project.
I our team really learned a lot from
[2:56:22] this project. It was uh so we we're very
very successful. We had a great outcome
[2:56:27] with this project. So I wanted to put
these four up here because each one of
[2:56:31] them uh really indicates a uh a bit of a
different skill set that we bring to the
[2:56:37] table. Uh [snorts] next slide.
And I know time is of the essence and
[2:56:43] please if I'm overstepping just just let
me know and I'll be more than happy to
[2:56:49] accelerate and uh and
with all due respect uh okay so
[2:56:57] I think I've spoken to
the engineering and network architecture
[2:57:03] aspect of of the company philosophy when
you design a radio communication system
[2:57:09] you have to design a hardened network
and sometimes you overlook that. Uh it's
[2:57:16] and it's got to be hardened on multiple
fronts. And the reason is because public
[2:57:20] safety uh 90% of the time you could have
little to no incidents depending on the
[2:57:28] population and how uh busy the the area
is. But it's just that one time that
[2:57:35] your radio system falters on you and
you've got a big incident. You can have
[2:57:38] a shootout. You're going to have a fire.
whatever the case may be. And this is
[2:57:42] the mindset that you've got to have when
you go into these P25 networks as a
[2:57:48] design engineer. Uh, and it is
challenging because it does at times
[2:57:53] introduce significant cost to the
process. But I think overall you've got
[2:57:58] to be thinking reliability and
resiliency when you're an engineer, when
[2:58:02] you're doing engineering on these
networks from a project management p
[2:58:06] perspective. And I wanted to touch on
project management because project
[2:58:11] management as you've I know you've been
involved listening to presentations on
[2:58:16] construction on P25 project management
is critical as well in the deployment of
[2:58:23] the system because project management
with these networks uh introduce has to
[2:58:30] manage the construction of the sites has
to manage the regulatory aspect ect of
[2:58:37] what installing a radio tower and a
shelter and generators things of that
[2:58:42] nature that all comes from the project
management. But there is something that
[2:58:45] I wanted to touch on very briefly here
which is uh which is in my opinion
[2:58:53] overlooked often and that is the
financial management of these networks.
[2:58:59] Um, I've been very fortunate that the
last 3 years I've been consulting for
[2:59:04] Motorola Solutions, specifically for
Motorola Solutions in a uh financial
[2:59:10] change management capacity. So, I've
been doing all their change orders and
[2:59:15] pricing the change orders. And the one
thing that I realized is and the
[2:59:19] Westchester County, it's for Westchester
County, New York, by the way, uh, on
[2:59:23] behalf of Motorola. [clears throat]
Um,
[2:59:28] time.
What can you do about our design system?
[2:59:32] Tell tell us about this about our system
here. What give us our options on what
[2:59:39] we're trying to do here on our radio
system.
[2:59:42] » I think you look at first of all, let's
let's make sure we understand what it is
[2:59:47] that the county has uh the experience
they've had with the network. Let's look
[2:59:52] at your system. Let's analyze the
configuration.
[2:59:57] Um when you do an analysis of the
configuration, then you can come up with
[3:00:02] design alternatives or design
improvements.
[3:00:07] Once we develop an improvement to the
design, whatever that may be, it could
[3:00:12] be uh adding a second core site. It
could be uh it could be scratching the
[3:00:19] existing radio system altogether. We
don't know. That would have to be
[3:00:23] analyzed. And what basically as the
analysis is being done, you're doing the
[3:00:28] analysis on the behalf of the county the
best. Mhm.
[3:00:34] » Happened to take a look at that
Abveistice report that was online.
[3:00:38] » We looked at the I believe it was
included in the RFP. So we did see that
[3:00:43] there were several shortcomings and
issues associated with the existing
[3:00:47] system network.
>> How would you be able to leverage that?
[3:00:50] I think the the county has the RF
infrastructure in place which is
[3:00:56] promising. That means you don't have to
spend money on building towers and uh so
[3:01:02] half of your battle in doing an upgrade
if the coverage is acceptable. And I go
[3:01:07] back to the county should analyze
whichever consulting firm comes in and
[3:01:12] you select to do business with. You
should analyze whether your radio
[3:01:17] coverage is acceptable. Maybe it's
acceptable today. Will it be acceptable
[3:01:23] in 5 years and 10 years down the road.
So if the existing network that's
[3:01:28] basically how we would analyze it. I
don't foresee that it's a complete
[3:01:32] tearown. I think that the existing
network if properly handled could be uh
[3:01:39] has the ability to be upgraded and
provide the county what it is that the
[3:01:43] countyy's looking for. Um so it would be
a matter of looking at what looking at
[3:01:49] the current configuration and uh coming
up with a viable solution cost effective
[3:01:54] solution and technically competent
solution that would be acceptable to the
[3:01:59] county. Are there any other options
>> you you could pull the depending on on
[3:02:05] the my opinion is in and it always has
been that you've got to look at all your
[3:02:10] possibilities you you have to look at
multiple vendors in a situ in your
[3:02:16] current situation I think you would be
happy 5 years from now if you did a
[3:02:21] complete analysis and said here's where
we sit with the Harris system here's
[3:02:26] what Harris is proposing to bring the
network up to where we think it should
[3:02:32] be and address the issues that we feel
we have to be addressed. But let's look
[3:02:37] at the competitor as well because you
never know there might be in a nutshell
[3:02:43] you might have as much work upgrading
the existing system as you do to totally
[3:02:49] swapping the existing system and going
to a new network. It's something that
[3:02:53] needs to be analyzed. It's something
that the vendors would have to uh
[3:02:58] discuss with the county.
>> Okay.
[3:02:59] » And where are your employees located?
>> We are primarily located in the New York
[3:03:03] area. I myself call home uh South
Florida. I live in Boca Raton, Florida.
[3:03:09] Uh my son who runs the company for us is
out of he's just bought a house in
[3:03:13] Denver. And uh my my chief engineer my
uh my primary engineer is in New Jersey.
[3:03:21] New Jersey, excuse me. So when you look
at in the early on in your present
[3:03:27] document that you submitted um 3.3 says
understanding the project and it's got
[3:03:33] some things listed there but I'm not
hearing you describe the things.
[3:03:37] Apologies. I I tried to verbalize
everything that was uh
[3:03:40] » well, we were we were looking for a
total um
[3:03:45] and report that would give us all the
options, cost benefits or pros and cons,
[3:03:52] costs of each time frame, and I don't I
don't see that in your
[3:03:56] » Yeah, the the report uh would come after
we have the ability to analyze the
[3:04:04] situation at this point or where Uh our
response was really based on the
[3:04:08] information in the RFP.
>> Okay.
[3:04:10] » Mhm.
>> All right.
[3:04:12] » So it's certainly something that is
doable. There's no doubt about it. We we
[3:04:16] have the ability to analyze the existing
system, report back to you what would be
[3:04:20] the better of the options both from a
technical, financial, long-term
[3:04:24] sustainability perspective.
>> Have you done any similar public sector
[3:04:29] projects in Texas?
>> The no nothing in Texas. This is my
[3:04:32] first uh my first stab at at working in
Texas.
[3:04:37] » Okay.
[3:04:45] » Question.
>> Yeah. Have you done any any kind of work
[3:04:48] where there's multiple jurisdictions
involved trying to get everything?
[3:04:52] » Actually, yes. So, uh like this regional
network for example. Yeah. My
[3:04:59] understanding from what I can see in the
RFP the
[3:05:03] uh my understanding I should say is that
Banberry runs the network. They run the
[3:05:08] core
>> basically. Uh you've got four sites
[3:05:12] inside the county that uh for it's it's
a foresight simoccast system P25 that
[3:05:19] you utilize inside the county. Um
interoperability with P25 is is not a
[3:05:25] big issue. It's it's the the network is
quite flexible and allows for uh for
[3:05:33] tying in outside agencies expansion
within the network. So uh it's it's what
[3:05:40] you're trying to achieve I'm fairly
confident can be achieved in one
[3:05:44] capacity or the other. You just have to
look at all your options. You've got to
[3:05:50] lay them on the table and determine what
is the uh what is the
[3:05:56] best option of all for the county
financially and technically and down the
[3:06:01] road. Very important.
>> Got to consider how long how how is this
[3:06:06] going to play itself out 5 10 years from
now and how much is all of that going to
[3:06:11] cost you. Total cost of ownership with
these networks is very important. It's
[3:06:17] something that needs to be considered uh
as much as how you're going to maintain
[3:06:22] the network today because the county
does not want to find itself in a tough
[3:06:27] situation trying to fund something that
it did not plan for.
[3:06:41] » Any other questions?
>> Good. Well, it was a pleasure and an
[3:06:46] honor and uh whether we are awarded, as
I stated before, we're a young company.
[3:06:52] Uh I am in uh it's something I've always
wanted to do consulting all my life.
[3:06:57] I've been able to do multitude of other
work at Motorola. We are very successful
[3:07:02] in the New York area. We managed to pay
the rent. We managed to keep the lights
[3:07:06] on. But uh this is something that I
definitely uh endeavor to do over the
[3:07:12] long haul. on having the opportunity to
come here and present to the com the
[3:07:16] commission is is again it's it's an
honor and whether TrueBridge is awarded
[3:07:22] the project or not I thank you from the
bottom of my heart sincerely and I wish
[3:07:26] you the best with whatever direction you
take we are always there you have my
[3:07:33] number uh you're uh yeah you can reach
out to us at any given time with that
[3:07:40] thank you and uh have a Good day.
>> Thank you.
[3:07:43] » Bye-bye.
[3:08:22] Good morning.
>> Hey, good morning.
[3:08:24] » Good.
>> Yeah. Good afternoon. How you doing?
[3:08:57] Please introduce yourself. We're ready.
Are you ready, Christine?
[3:09:03] I'll introduce myself in the meantime.
Good afternoon. Uh my name is Rejit
[3:09:07] Javer. I'm associate vice president with
federal engineering. Uh I've been with
[3:09:12] federal engineering for 18 years now. Uh
various roles. Uh I was a a lead
[3:09:19] consultant, uh project manager,
director, and then my current role. So
[3:09:23] I've been involved with the public
safety radio communication space um
[3:09:26] during that entire time. Um, prior to
that I worked for a major vendor for
[3:09:32] about eight years in the public safety,
radio communication space as well. So,
[3:09:36] my career in the space is my entire
career of 25 plus years. Um, so excited
[3:09:41] to be here today and thank you for this
opportunity. I'm going to introduce uh
[3:09:45] Greg uh to introduce himself.
>> Hi,
[3:09:50] » Greg Center. Um, I've been with uh
federal engineering for four years as a
[3:09:55] consultant. I've had a 30-year career in
the wireless industry. Uh my background
[3:10:01] is I've got a bachelor's in electrical
engineering from Oklahoma Christian and
[3:10:05] an MBA from UT Austin and um a project
management professional. That's really
[3:10:11] where my career is focused on project
management specialty. Uh about half my
[3:10:16] career was at Texas Instruments making
wireless chips for cell phones and then
[3:10:20] the other half has been working on uh
public safety, public radio
[3:10:24] communication systems. um working for
various vendors uh different vendors
[3:10:30] along the way. I was a director of PMO
for one of them until I moved to federal
[3:10:35] engineering. I've worked about 20
projects for federal engineering uh
[3:10:39] since I joined. Uh I'm working alongside
another couple individuals who aren't
[3:10:45] with us today. Lewis Camaro, he is uh he
like myself is also from from Texas. I'm
[3:10:51] from the DFW area. Lewis is from the
Houston area and then he's he's been
[3:10:57] with Federal probably 18 years. He's
worked over a hundred projects or so for
[3:11:02] for Federal. And we've also got Julian
Duran. He's our RF coverage specialist.
[3:11:07] He's uh got specialties in coverage
propagation and also backall engineering
[3:11:13] microwave. So with that, I'll turn it
back to you.
[3:11:15] » Thank you, Greg.
Uh next slide, please.
[3:11:21] So, uh, wanted to go over, uh, what our
proposed services are here. Um, also
[3:11:26] wanted to say that, you know, we as
federal engineering are prepared, uh, if
[3:11:30] we're so, um, honored to to have this
opportunity, uh, we we are prepared to
[3:11:35] start right away. We have a a planning
tool that um we all get together and
[3:11:41] plan every week and continually update
that looks out 12 months, 18 months to
[3:11:46] make sure that um our our personnel and
resources are are are staffed on the
[3:11:51] project. So, we we definitely have the
uh bandwidth for uh taking on a project
[3:11:55] of this size and scope. Um so, I wanted
to let you know that. Also, we're
[3:11:59] assuming a six-month schedule, but we'll
work with you. Um, if there's some time
[3:12:03] dates and times that need to be met that
are critical for the county, we're we're
[3:12:08] more than happy to work with you to, you
know, compress the schedule uh however
[3:12:12] best we can to make it work for you and
your needs.
[3:12:16] Um, so as far as the project uh
initiation phase, oh, I'm sorry. So,
[3:12:22] uh, as um, can you go back one? Sorry.
Sorry. Um as far as the project
[3:12:25] initiation phase, um what we'll first do
is we'll send out a request for
[3:12:29] information to uh the participants from
the county to receive some documentation
[3:12:33] just to get a uh understanding of what
uh your system uh has different uh
[3:12:38] aspects of it, whether it's the the
frequency licensing, the actual uh
[3:12:42] equipment components, uh the
maintenance, uh all those types of
[3:12:45] things. Um and then we'll we'll review
that um in preparation for the project
[3:12:50] initiation meeting. helps us to get a
better understanding of of where um Hood
[3:12:54] County is at. And uh at the project
initiation meeting, we will um basically
[3:13:01] baseline what the scope of the project
is, go through some critical dates, um
[3:13:06] go through how the project
communications will take place, and
[3:13:09] we're very flexible. We'll do whatever's
in the county's interest of how how
[3:13:13] often to have those calls and meetings.
We understand um you know county staff
[3:13:18] are busy and we don't want to overly
burden them but we also make sure want
[3:13:22] to make sure the communication flow is
is is good and adequate to your needs.
[3:13:26] Um and then we'll conduct stakeholder
interviews. This is a really important
[3:13:29] part of the process because we will
really gain an understanding of what the
[3:13:33] first responders uh find is working well
with the current radio communications
[3:13:37] network and what's not. And and we want
to be able to identify that. So that
[3:13:42] will help us identify those gaps and and
mitigate that when we're coming together
[3:13:46] um on these next phases of the project.
So with that we'll have a deliverable uh
[3:13:50] which is a project plan and schedule as
well as interview notes from the uh
[3:13:54] stakeholder interviews.
Next slide please.
[3:14:00] So the next uh set of the next phase is
the alternatives identification and
[3:14:05] analysis. So, we understand, you know,
it's Hood County's goal for an informed,
[3:14:11] transparent, unbiased, and defensible
decision um of which way the your radio
[3:14:16] communications path should proceed. Um,
and so it's our our job as federal
[3:14:20] engineering to identify the
alternatives. Uh, whether that be
[3:14:24] continued participation in the Granberry
regional radio network, whether you want
[3:14:29] to build and operate and maintain your
own system or whether you want to join
[3:14:33] another regional um system that could be
on a different uh technology platform.
[3:14:38] That that's that's what we're here for.
We're this is what we do. Um, this is
[3:14:43] this is what we do all the time for uh
counties of similar size. Um, and so how
[3:14:48] do we do that? Right, we we go through
the radio coverage. We see each of the
[3:14:52] alternatives and we identify, okay, how
how does staying with the current system
[3:14:56] or building your own system or joining
another system, how does the radio
[3:15:00] coverage meet the first responders needs
and we'll identify any potential
[3:15:04] deficiencies or what needs to be
improved in order to meet the needs. So
[3:15:07] we'll we'll we'll take that into
account. There's also the actual um
[3:15:12] system configuration. you know, is where
where is that technology in its life
[3:15:17] cycle? Um, are you if you're currently
part of a system, how old is that system
[3:15:21] and and when is it due for replacement?
If you're building your own system, of
[3:15:25] course, warranty and what that life
cycle looks like. So, we'll look at all
[3:15:28] these uh different aspects um as part of
our comparison when we're looking at the
[3:15:33] different alternatives. Uh, another big
thing is governance. Um, obviously, how
[3:15:38] big a say does Hood County have in the
operation of the system? So whether
[3:15:42] you're part of a network and what what
you can um do there as far as having
[3:15:47] your input and and voice heard versus
operating and owning and operating your
[3:15:51] own system um and having other perhaps
uh uh participants on your system. We
[3:15:57] will we'll work through different
governance models and things that have
[3:16:00] worked in the past for other clients but
of course take your input and customize
[3:16:04] it. Other key thing um this is public
safety radio communications we're
[3:16:08] talking about here. So system res
redundancy and reliability is so
[3:16:13] important. Um we, you know, first
responders, whether law enforcement,
[3:16:17] fire personnel, they need this system up
and running all the time. So we take
[3:16:21] into account redundancy when we're
evaluating um the different alternatives
[3:16:26] uh that Hood County could pursue.
Interoperability, of course, the ability
[3:16:30] to communicate with one another, not
only uh agencies within the county, but
[3:16:34] neighboring agencies in the event of a
of some type of incident. So evaluating
[3:16:39] how interoperability plays with each of
these alternatives is very important as
[3:16:43] well. And then of course uh cyber
security. Unfortunately we've all heard
[3:16:46] of ransomware attacks. Uh we've heard of
the physical security issues where
[3:16:51] there's vandalism at radio sites or even
unfortunately copper or other types of
[3:16:56] physical equipment stolen. So so how to
secure that um to protect Hood County's
[3:17:01] assets. That that's really key. And then
taking into all of this is budgetary
[3:17:05] cost estimate. what what is the best
value for the county? Um what are the
[3:17:10] costs of these alternatives? What value
do they deliver? And really providing
[3:17:14] that type of evaluation is is what we
want to uh do. Uh next slide please.
[3:17:22] So um this all culminates in a
recommendations and uh report with and
[3:17:26] then we'll present the findings. So what
we do is we come up with a prioritized
[3:17:30] recommendations based on what what which
of these alternatives delivers the best
[3:17:34] value for the county. Um and we're
looking again at all those aspects I
[3:17:38] just talked about and we based on our um
professional opinion we'll provide that
[3:17:42] recommendation and of course have that
discussion. Um so we'll provide a
[3:17:46] roadmap. So how do you get there from
here? It's important to understand and
[3:17:50] take your inputs as you know is this
something that has to be phased due to
[3:17:54] budgetary uh needs. Is it something
obviously also from an operability
[3:17:58] standpoint you know do we have all law
enforcement move to it first and then
[3:18:02] fire? So there's a multitude of
different things that have to be taken
[3:18:05] into account when we look at that. But
again, we'll take the input from the
[3:18:09] county participants and come up with
that roadmap that makes sense and is
[3:18:13] achievable. Uh and then uh we'll deliver
the report um and we'll review it with
[3:18:19] the stakeholders, make sure it it it
meets all the needs. If there's any
[3:18:23] input, we're happy to take that back and
solidify that in a final report and then
[3:18:27] of course do a presentation um to the
county uh to to present those the final
[3:18:33] outcome of that. So that all that
culminates in our radio system analysis
[3:18:37] and recommendations report.
Next slide, please.
[3:18:42] So I wanted to just give you a snapshot
of uh we we've done over 3,500 uh
[3:18:47] projects as a company. you know, I'll go
into a little bit more detail on that
[3:18:50] but in the next slide. But as far as
just a sampling of of some of the um
[3:18:55] efforts we've undertaken here in the
state of Texas um and also um some some
[3:19:00] other uh similarsized counties um around
the country. One thing I wanted to say
[3:19:05] is, you know, federal engineering brings
all our knowledge and best practices to
[3:19:09] this project. So everything we've
learned from all those 3,500 other
[3:19:13] projects, you know, best practices, um,
intricacies of the projects, knowledge
[3:19:18] of the of the vendors, um, I we bring
all of that here. Um, also wanted to
[3:19:24] point out for for example, in the case
of El Paso, you know, our
[3:19:27] recommendations are practical and
implementable. Um, and we implement it
[3:19:31] with a minimum of risk. We want to
minimize risk for our clients and for
[3:19:35] the county. So in in the El Paso's case,
we did everything from needs assessment
[3:19:40] to the alternatives analysis we're
discussing here today. But in that case,
[3:19:44] we went all the way through and
implemented their system. We we helped
[3:19:47] them with the procurement. We helped
them implement the the actual system
[3:19:52] with minimal amount of risk and they
have a fully functioning uh P25 radio
[3:19:56] communication system today. Um, and it
was a it was it was a project that took
[3:20:00] uh several years uh right from the I
call it cradle to grave, but it it it
[3:20:05] worked well. And so that's kind of some
of the relevance uh wanted to point out
[3:20:09] for Hood County.
Um we are also vendor neutral. We have
[3:20:14] never done work for equipment vendor in
the past. We have no plans to do so in
[3:20:18] the future. So we're truly unbiased um
and independent consulting firm. uh and
[3:20:24] that's important in these cases where
for example uh Tilimo County uh we we've
[3:20:29] just are completed the procurement we
again did needs assessment alternative
[3:20:34] analysis and so forth for them but uh
we're right now they're in the
[3:20:38] finalization of a contract with a vendor
and again we we provided our our
[3:20:41] feedback but um it is their decision and
we we just look at everything
[3:20:46] objectively and that's that's the way we
operate.
[3:20:50] Uh we have experience with all the major
LMR radio vendors whether it be Motorola
[3:20:55] um Harris, Tate, uh EF Johnson or JBC
Kenwood. So we we are very wellversed
[3:21:02] with all the different vendors um and so
have and have uh good working
[3:21:06] relationships with them
and um our costbenefit analysis yields
[3:21:11] recommendations that are justifiable. So
in each of these cases we've when we've
[3:21:15] provided alternatives um they've been
implemented and and and u come at a at a
[3:21:20] cost that is make sense to each of our
uh a agency um that we work with. Um
[3:21:27] next slide please.
[3:21:31] All right so I wanted to kind of wrap
things up with why federal engineering.
[3:21:35] So we've been in the business 43 years.
Um Ron Bosow our our founder and CEO is
[3:21:41] still our CEO. So, we've have had
consistent leadership uh throughout the
[3:21:45] 43 years we've been in the public safety
business. Um, again, we're truly
[3:21:51] independent. As I just mentioned, we
have a very deep bench. We have over 50
[3:21:55] subject matter experts, but important to
that is we have a team here based here
[3:22:01] in Texas to provide support to Hood
County that the the project manager, the
[3:22:05] technical lead, they're right here um in
Texas. one's in the DFW area, one's in
[3:22:10] Houston, and then they have a lot of
other expertise to lean on within the
[3:22:14] firm. Um, and we've done a lot of
projects of this size and scope. Um, we
[3:22:20] actually have our own small community
consulting practice that really focuses
[3:22:24] on comm community communities that might
have a more limited population, but
[3:22:28] large geographic area, a lot of
volunteer uh first responders. Um, and
[3:22:33] so we've we've dealt with uh different
aspects. We understand every client's
[3:22:38] unique and that's what uh makes us
really focus on the needs uh for each
[3:22:43] client. Um and we've had an excellent
project performance. I I'm I'm very
[3:22:48] proud to say that all our projects have
always ended up a success. None none
[3:22:52] have been a failed project. Uh we really
take everything we do very seriously uh
[3:22:57] given uh you know this is what we do for
a living.
[3:23:01] And um with that said, I I don't have
much uh else to add. So, I'm gonna leave
[3:23:07] it open to questions.
>> Greg is in in DFW. You're in Fort Worth
[3:23:13] or
>> Dallas area.
[3:23:18] » And you would be who would be on site
doing our interviews and things. That
[3:23:23] would be Greg.
>> It would be myself and Lewis who's also
[3:23:27] Texas-based.
>> And that's the person that's in Houston.
[3:23:30] » Yes.
[3:23:34] » So, you Um, did you read the A Vistus
report?
[3:23:39] » Did I read the
>> We had a an assessment done a few months
[3:23:43] ago from I don't know if it's Avestus or
A Vistus, but
[3:23:46] » Oh. Oh, the the report I I I I took a
look at it. Yes.
[3:23:50] » Okay. What was your major takeaway from
that?
[3:23:52] » Um, you know what? I from what I recall,
honestly, I I I I can't recall the
[3:24:00] details to be honest.
[3:24:04] Did you read that by any chance?
>> No.
[3:24:07] » Okay.
>> No, but I I get a sense that uh the city
[3:24:11] and
>> Could you in the mic?
[3:24:13] » Oh, I'm sorry. I I get a sense that the
city and county entered into an
[3:24:16] arrangement together that is now proving
not to be not to not to be what you had
[3:24:22] originally anticipated.
>> Yeah. Do you know what the major
[3:24:26] factors are in that or?
I I assume there's some u fac Yeah, I I
[3:24:33] I don't know. I I assume there's some
political factors at play.
[3:24:39] » We're So, one of the examples that that
Rejie brought up was with uh Santa Fe.
[3:24:46] Uh it's it's a good example. It's a
project I'm it's a client I'm working
[3:24:49] with now. We've been working with them
since I think at least 2016 17.
[3:24:53] » Yeah.
>> It was city and county. Um we we did an
[3:24:58] assessment for both of them at the same
time and then they they kind of diverged
[3:25:02] in where they wanted to head. Um the
city immediately decided they wanted to
[3:25:07] join the statewide network and the
county wanted to take the take a look at
[3:25:12] doing their own independent system and
we we continued supporting their diver
[3:25:16] their diverged interests and then the
county eventually a few years uh uh you
[3:25:21] know a ago decided they they wanted to
rejoin the state state system but each
[3:25:26] of them are independent and we've we
looked at them independently through
[3:25:30] their needs assessment. So things that
applied to the city didn't necessarily
[3:25:34] apply to the county, but we looked at
how how each of those could could take
[3:25:38] advantage of the opportunities and a
shared regional communication system and
[3:25:44] um shared dispatch uh and uh and
interoperability.
[3:25:51] » So could you go over again? I think you
did this close to the beginning, but
[3:25:54] just to make sure I understand what what
is your vision of what the final report
[3:26:00] looks like? Sure.
>> So, the the vision of the final report
[3:26:05] um and of course we'll work with the uh
county if this is not exactly what
[3:26:09] you're thinking, but the vision is going
to be looking at different alternatives.
[3:26:13] the the alternatives that we've seen
based on the RF uh Q that was sent out
[3:26:18] was staying with your existing uh radio
network which is the Granbury regional
[3:26:22] radio network and and how to enhance
that participation going and building
[3:26:26] your own system and operating it and
also joining another regional uh partner
[3:26:31] potentially and and how that uh looks
and so the report will have these
[3:26:35] different alternatives identified. It'll
have coverage maps for each of the
[3:26:40] different alternatives. It'll have um a
key breakdown of what that configuration
[3:26:45] looks like, what the benefits for each
of the uh alternatives are, what are the
[3:26:49] cons. We'll also have a a cost uh
analysis for each of the alternatives.
[3:26:54] So you can look at the pros and cons of
joining or or or conduct or building out
[3:26:58] that system plus have the cost uh that
it entails. Um and then based on that we
[3:27:05] would provide that and then come up with
our prioritized recommendations based on
[3:27:09] what is the best uh costbenefit analysis
for Hood County. We would then
[3:27:15] prioritize those recommendations and and
submit it as part of that report. So it
[3:27:19] would have essentially and of course as
with all the reports there would be an
[3:27:23] executive summary so you don't have to
read all 100 plus pages and you can kind
[3:27:28] of get the synopsis um in probably four
or five pages of you know what the key
[3:27:33] criteria was what are the different uh
differences between the different
[3:27:36] alternatives and what our prioritized
recommendations look like and
[3:27:40] » so is the cost just the implementation
cost or is there another cost?
[3:27:45] » Yeah, so we factor in um different types
of cost. So we have the implementation
[3:27:49] costs which is obviously very important
but if you're of course joining a system
[3:27:53] or something like that there's going to
be perhaps some ongoing costs right and
[3:27:57] then even uh if you own your own system
there's the overall maintenance cost so
[3:28:02] we'll factor all that in we like to call
it total cost of ownership and we look
[3:28:05] at that total cost of ownership for all
all the different alternatives whether
[3:28:10] it's joining a a system staying on the
system you're currently sharing or
[3:28:14] having your own system we we'll look at
all those aspects so you can make
[3:28:18] informed decision based on uh not just
that upfront cost which I mean we know
[3:28:22] with a building out your own system can
be substantial but that overall total
[3:28:26] cost of ownership and you can compare
that to see okay maybe the upfront cost
[3:28:30] for joining a system is less but then
the total cost of ownership might not be
[3:28:34] as as beneficial because the the ongoing
cost of of being a part of that. So
[3:28:39] we'll look at all that stuff to make
sure
[3:28:41] » we take that out 10 years, 15 years.
>> We can do it we normally do it to 10
[3:28:45] years, but we can do it to 15 years if
if that's what you desire. That's
[3:28:49] there's no hard and fast rule on that.
>> So of one of the projects that's similar
[3:28:54] to what we're doing, do you have a road
map or a project plan or something that
[3:28:59] you can share with us that can give us
an idea? I mean, you could send it to
[3:29:04] Glenn. I mean, not right this minute.
>> Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yes. Absolutely.
[3:29:08] the El Paso or Santa Fe or a different
one that you didn't highlight, but it's
[3:29:12] very similar to
>> Sure.
[3:29:14] » what we're doing to get an idea of your
>> road map and or your project plan, how
[3:29:20] you went about it.
>> Absolutely.
[3:29:29] I was just point out one of the one of
the benefits that that I think federal
[3:29:34] engineering has is having done so many
projects and and the continual breadth
[3:29:40] is that we've developed um we've we've
leveraged a lot of uh cost models. So,
[3:29:45] as we're looking out through our our
budgeting cycle and looking longterm,
[3:29:49] we've really honed in our our cost
models to be able to help you budget um
[3:29:55] accurately. So, you're not left you're
not left, you know, too too much or too
[3:30:01] too uh little for uh looking out. And
we've had very successful engagements.
[3:30:06] Most of our clients that we do
assessments for uh enjoy the experience
[3:30:11] so much that they tend to keep us on to
help them through the implementation
[3:30:14] phase like we are with Santa Fe County.
>> Okay.
[3:30:18] » Yeah. And the strategic roadmap uh like
you were mentioning u we can work with
[3:30:22] you to figure out based on the budget
cycles and so forth how to phase that in
[3:30:26] too. You know there's there's not always
just one way to get from point A to
[3:30:30] point B. And so we're very cognizant of
hey maybe we move a certain set of first
[3:30:35] responders first or dispatch centers or
you know there's different ways to um to
[3:30:40] basically come up with it. All depends
on what the alternative and the
[3:30:43] recommended solution ends up being. But
we'll definitely work with you to make
[3:30:47] sure that there's a strategic um uh
roadmap that makes sense to the county.
[3:30:52] » Thank you.
[3:30:56] » Thank you all very much. Good
presentation.
[3:30:59] » Thank you so much. Thank you.
>> Appreciate it.
[3:31:25] » I actually didn't even notice.
[3:31:37] Come on down.
[3:31:44] » Had it to there, please.
[3:32:02] Thank you, sir.
[3:32:52] Well, thank you very much. Um, we're
with Trot Communications Group. I'm
[3:32:56] Barry Black. This is Tom Murphy.
Thank you for the opportunity to come
[3:33:02] and uh speak this afternoon.
Guess we'll go ahead and get started.
[3:33:07] Um, so a little bit about Trot
Communications Group. We're a radio
[3:33:12] frequency engineering consulting firm.
We've been in business for almost 50
[3:33:16] years, about 48 years now. We're located
in Irving, Texas, so we're not too far
[3:33:21] away. And we we are a minority owned
business. We're owned by um
[3:33:28] » womanown.
Yes. [laughter]
[3:33:32] Um but we are independent of all
equipment manufacturers. We are not
[3:33:37] associated with any certain radio vendor
like Motorola, L3, Harris. We work on
[3:33:41] projects for all those companies and uh
we are completely independent of not
[3:33:47] only those equipment manufacturers but
also installers, distributors and
[3:33:52] integrators. So we're not associated
with any of those. Our main customers
[3:33:58] are in the public safety industry. We do
do a lot of projects for transportation
[3:34:03] and utilities uh education as well and
then also private radio systems as well.
[3:34:10] Um we have a lot of experience with P25
phase 1 and phase 2 systems and we have
[3:34:19] over the years we've managed well over
300 critical radio system projects.
[3:34:30] So, we uh as far as our qualifications
go, thank you. Um we have experience
[3:34:36] with P25 as I just stated, but we've
also have projects that are digital
[3:34:41] mobile radio projects, DMR it's called.
Um some of the older systems,
[3:34:46] conventional systems,
um Simocast radio systems, multi-sight
[3:34:51] systems. These are different types of uh
ways that the tower sites transmit these
[3:34:57] signals if you will and then of course
trunking as well. Uh we have experience
[3:35:03] as I stated earlier with all the major
manufacturers Motorola, L3 Harris and EF
[3:35:09] Johnson. Those are the main three P25
vendors. We uh we've worked on small
[3:35:15] systems, basic systems and more complex
systems. Um, an example of a basic
[3:35:21] system would be maybe like a three-sight
conventional P25 system, three tower
[3:35:25] sites. Um,
but a more complex system would be one
[3:35:30] that would be multiple counties that are
connected. um maybe multiple Simocast
[3:35:37] cells, 20 plus sites with 20 channels
per site and a very complex microwave
[3:35:44] back hall that connects all the sites
and provides all the data to the sites
[3:35:48] for the retransmission out to the users
um the first responders.
[3:35:54] Some of the recent projects we've worked
on um have included things like
[3:35:59] redundancy. It's very important for a
public safety radio system. uh IP back
[3:36:04] haul using not only microwave but also
fiber and um a lot of the projects
[3:36:10] include encryption uh GPS on the PTT
smartphone gateways LTE and Wi-Fi
[3:36:18] connectivity and interoperability and of
course um you know new consoles that
[3:36:24] have backup radios in case there's a
loss of the system and you can transmit
[3:36:28] over the air and still be connected.
[3:36:34] Thank you. So, all of our projects, we
always have kind of a mission or a
[3:36:41] project mission in mind and we're always
committed to supporting the customer
[3:36:47] without bias. Um, you know, we're always
acting in the best interest of the
[3:36:53] county or the customer or the city,
whoever we're working for. and we feel
[3:36:59] like we're uniquely qualified and
knowledgeable and locally available with
[3:37:04] a full range of of evaluations for what
the county is looking to explore in this
[3:37:11] situation. Um, we wanted to point out we
we we have a lot of experience locally
[3:37:17] here. Um, but our past efforts with the
city of Granberry
[3:37:22] is not going to be a conflict of
interest at all in this situation. If
[3:37:26] y'all decide to go with us, we we uh we
we are currently working on other
[3:37:33] projects in the area as well, including
uh Tom's working on county and
[3:37:38] Somersville County right now as well.
And I actually worked on the city of
[3:37:42] Granberry system day one. Um Tom, you
also worked on Stevenville, city of
[3:37:48] Stevenville when when they were joining
the GRRN as well.
[3:37:53] » Let me let me just clarify that. Do you
current are you currently contracting
[3:37:57] with the city of Granberry?
>> No, we are not. We do not have a
[3:38:01] purchase order at all with them.
>> Okay. So, no statements of work in
[3:38:04] progress or
>> No, ma'am. I I will say that they they
[3:38:09] have been ones that um after the project
was over and the system was accepted uh
[3:38:15] which kind of ended the project let's
say for a consulting role like we were
[3:38:20] providing they've had some small
projects that have come up where they
[3:38:24] need some additional help and they have
contracted us to do something really
[3:38:28] small u but right now we have nothing
with them.
[3:38:33] So, if you were selected for this
project, would you see that as a
[3:38:39] conflict to accept additional work or
We wouldn't. We would not because we
[3:38:44] would be working in in your best
interest with with your goals in mind.
[3:38:49] And um if if they approached us to ask
us to do something because we are
[3:38:56] working for y'all, we would we would vet
that with you guys first. If we think
[3:39:00] it's a conflict of interest, we would
stand down on that. We're not going to
[3:39:04] start a project and then have something
come up that would potentially create a
[3:39:10] conflict of interest. Um, but at this
point, we don't see it being a conflict
[3:39:14] of interest because we don't have an
open project with them. And clearly your
[3:39:20] you know the the help that you need um
is is u you know we would move forward
[3:39:28] on that project considering what you
need and not consider anything from the
[3:39:33] past really uh from from them or radio
system.
[3:39:42] So I I was pointing out a little bit
earlier that we do have a lot of
[3:39:45] experience with all the the major
manufacturers of P25 equipment. Um these
[3:39:51] are examples of L3 Harris um projects
that are currently
[3:39:57] uh some of them have been completed but
some of them are currently underway. Uh
[3:40:02] one in particular the city of uh Lach
Texas that's an L3 Harris project.
[3:40:07] Somerville County and RAF County. Those
are currently underway. Uh Vanzant
[3:40:12] County and Hunt County, Texas are both
L3 Harris systems. Those are both in
[3:40:17] progress, almost wrapped up on both of
those. And then of course, uh Granberry
[3:40:24] there you see and Stevenville. Um and
then we also did a project for Corpus
[3:40:29] Christi and Rock Wall, Texas. Um all L3
hair systems. And I just wanted to point
[3:40:36] out the L3 Harris since y'all have L3
Harris infrastructure at your sites and
[3:40:41] » but you also have experience with
Motorola.
[3:40:44] » Yes, ma'am. Yes, we have a we have
Motorola projects going on right now. Um
[3:40:49] and then one EF Johnson project with DFW
airport.
[3:40:54] » Yeah, the bas.
[3:41:01] » Yeah.
[3:41:04] Yes.
>> Ector.
[3:41:06] » No.
>> Was it Ector County?
[3:41:09] » My superior. Okay. It's the one to the
west.
[3:41:14] » It's Midland County for sure.
>> Yes.
[3:41:16] » Yeah.
[3:41:22] » Okay. I'm gonna throw this to Tom. Tom's
going to give you some feedback on a
[3:41:27] project that we think is very similar to
what what you guys are kind of looking
[3:41:31] at. That's what I call case study. So,
>> yes. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Short guy. Uh, so
[3:41:37] Davis County, Kentucky, uh, was a system
I worked on. It ended up being Motorola,
[3:41:42] but um, so that was a case where they
were a VHF conventional looking to go
[3:41:47] P25. Their county seat, the city of
Owensboro, already had a P25 Motorola
[3:41:52] system with a core. We actually helped
them with the RFP, the selection, the
[3:41:58] implementation, but we actually wrote
that RFP such that all the vendors had
[3:42:02] to reply that they were going to build
out an independent system, but
[3:42:06] recognizing that this existing system
was there, they could supply an
[3:42:10] alternate solution along with that
primary solution. Well, the alternate
[3:42:14] solution did end up getting picked
because of financial reasons. And so the
[3:42:18] county which already shared dispatch
operations with the city ended up
[3:42:23] building out a three-sight simocast the
city sites data multiccast kind of like
[3:42:27] chalk mountain is for uh hood and shared
core continued shared dispatch and that
[3:42:34] got implemented up and running great but
again kind of you know politics happened
[3:42:39] and uh Davis wanted to explore
separating
[3:42:44] whether it be a full divorce or a
separate divorce and so we did a study
[3:42:47] for them budgetary uh what would it take
budgetary to kind of three scenarios
[3:42:54] just split dispatch
split dispatch and all their RF sites
[3:42:58] and core and in that case state of
Kentucky has an existing Motorola system
[3:43:03] as well so they also looked at maybe
joining instead of purchasing their own
[3:43:07] core joining to the state system to see
if there's any savings there so um they
[3:43:13] you know we did that whole study for
them they ended up uh they have not
[3:43:16] split off that they are still building a
public safety facility separate with a
[3:43:20] nicer dispatch. So, you know, who knows?
But currently, they end up staying. But
[3:43:26] it was an interesting study that I
thought had a lot of similar
[3:43:28] ramifications that you guys are kind of
exploring here.
[3:43:34] » Thanks, Tom.
[3:43:40] » Okay.
[3:43:44] So, as far as Trot's knowledge and then
some of the project challenges that we
[3:43:49] have wanted to kind of um outline here,
we have a very good understanding of the
[3:43:55] current Granberry Regional Radio Network
because we worked on it from day one. Um
[3:44:01] that was not one where we wrote an RFP
uh to help the city. the city was was
[3:44:07] interested in L3 Harris and we reviewed
a proposal from L3 Harris and helped the
[3:44:14] city get that into one that really met
their needs and requirements and then
[3:44:19] then the project moved forward. Um, and
then we helped them with implementation.
[3:44:26] We also helped them with uh the close
out and the testing to make sure
[3:44:30] everything worked right. And um so that
was kind of that project with with
[3:44:36] Granberry. Um
we feel that our knowledge will result
[3:44:42] in a more efficient process of
evaluating potential changes uh for the
[3:44:46] county. We really understand everything.
We won't need to start from scratch. Um,
[3:44:52] there are numerous challenges that will
require substantial consideration and
[3:44:56] planning and design efforts for the
county to break away from the GRRN. And
[3:45:03] some of those things we wanted to kind
of list here just to kind of put them
[3:45:06] out there. One thing is coverage, RF
coverage. And anytime you're changing
[3:45:11] coverage, you you also have to update
your FCC licensing. So, there's FCC
[3:45:16] licensing considerations as well. Um,
and then that gets into site
[3:45:21] acquisition. You've got to either build
towers or you need to lease some towers
[3:45:25] to put your equipment on. So that and
site upgrades, bringing in generators
[3:45:30] and shelters and things like that, uh,
are another challenge. um the back hall
[3:45:36] which is what connects all the sites
together through microwave typically or
[3:45:40] fiber that will have to be reconfigured
uh in most cases and and then that
[3:45:45] relates or goes into FCC licensing for
the microwave system. Um
[3:45:51] interoperability replacement due to a
loss of talk groups. Um, when you're
[3:45:57] part of a regional radio system, um,
your interoperability with others that
[3:46:01] are on that system is purely through
talk groups that are designed for
[3:46:06] interoperability.
When when you if you broke away from a
[3:46:11] radio system and have your own system,
then you've got to replace that
[3:46:16] interoperability somehow uh so that you
can have mutual aid and and and
[3:46:20] assistance by other agencies. And so you
can do that by different means. There's
[3:46:25] different ways to do that. And that's
what I'm kind of talking about here.
[3:46:28] You'll have to, you know, decide who do
you need to interoperate with and decide
[3:46:33] and figure out a way to do that going
forward because you won't do that just
[3:46:38] on the radio. Um, unless you have your
your talk group, your unit IDs
[3:46:44] programmed into both systems.
You can use interops to do that or you
[3:46:49] can use something called ISSI to do that
as well.
[3:46:53] um cut over planning will be a challenge
u because you have a live radio system
[3:46:58] now you're not moving from a
conventional system to a P25 system
[3:47:01] you're moving from a P25 system possibly
to your own P25 system so cut over
[3:47:07] becomes tricky because you've got users
on it and it's live um training also
[3:47:14] becomes important there will be another
level of training if you purchase your
[3:47:18] own cores there's training that will
need to be provided
[3:47:22] so that uh the people that maintain the
radio system for the county understand
[3:47:27] all the new equipment they're having to
get um and understand how to use the
[3:47:32] network management tools to be able to
to monitor the system and u its health
[3:47:38] and and operations and things like that.
Um
[3:47:44] there'll also need to probably be an
update to the maintenance service
[3:47:47] agreement if there's an existing
maintenance service agreement in place.
[3:47:51] It's typically for this set of
equipment. If you expand your equipment,
[3:47:56] you've kind of expanded that maintenance
agreement uh so that your equipment's
[3:48:00] covered and you're getting the the
proper updates for cyber,
[3:48:04] excuse me, [clears throat] cyber
security and and uh various u updates
[3:48:09] that are needed along the way. Critical
spares are kind of the same thing. If
[3:48:14] you've got more equipment now, then you
may need a bigger set of critical
[3:48:17] spares. And then the last thing of
course that's that's a not necessarily a
[3:48:22] challenge but in a project like this
you've always got to look at the
[3:48:26] associated costs. So there'll be a
substantial cost analysis as Tom
[3:48:30] mentioned was done for Davis County that
we thought was a very similar project to
[3:48:35] what you are looking at here. That would
be important.
[3:48:39] » Oh yeah. Gosh. Yes. Okay. Next slide.
Okay,
[3:48:43] » so this is just a layout of the GRRN and
it shows Hood County and it and and
[3:48:49] really it's just to show that there's
four Simoccast sites there and two of
[3:48:54] them are the cities and two of them are
the counties and then of course Chalk
[3:48:57] Mountain down here. So that's just that
you can go to the next slide.
[3:49:03] Okay, our advantages, we're we're local.
We're only an hour and a half away. So,
[3:49:08] we're here for
um you know, short notice meetings and
[3:49:12] things like that at minimal cost. We
have a thorough understanding of the
[3:49:16] GRRN. Our past experience analyzing
client separation from a regional radio
[3:49:22] network to achieve autonomy is what Tom
talked about. We are currently working
[3:49:27] four projects in Texas that are L3
Harris and two of them are right here in
[3:49:34] neighbors of y'all and Somerville. And
we have a really good working
[3:49:38] relationship with L3 Harris, their sales
team, their implementation and warranty
[3:49:42] and maintenance service teams because of
all these relationships that we've built
[3:49:46] with them. And so we feel like we have
that's a that's a plus that we kind of
[3:49:52] know the people um that are associated
with those projects.
[3:49:58] » And that I believe that's the last one.
Any questions?
[3:50:01] » Yes. So in your own
um kind of your own words I guess for
[3:50:07] lack of better words could give me an
concise explanation of what our problem
[3:50:13] statement is.
>> So it's it's our understanding that
[3:50:20] y'all are part of a regional radio
network now and maybe things aren't
[3:50:26] exactly the way you thought they were
going to be.
[3:50:30] um you you rely on others to manage that
radio system and they make decisions
[3:50:37] possibly and I know that there's
associated costs with being on that
[3:50:41] system that maybe
>> have changed
[3:50:44] » have changed. Yeah. And um so our role
with with the city of Granberry on on
[3:50:52] all that was purely a mathematical
um component.
[3:50:57] » Maybe I wasn't clear.
>> Yeah. What is it that we're our problem
[3:51:02] today and what is your vision for your
deliverable and how it would address
[3:51:08] that pro problem? What is your vision
for what your final deliverable would
[3:51:13] look like and how it would address that
problem?
[3:51:15] » Sure. Sure. So, I think what you've got
to look at first is you we probably need
[3:51:19] to sit down with stakeholders and make
sure that we're all on the same page as
[3:51:23] far as
what exactly your needs and requirements
[3:51:28] are um versus what they are, you know,
what's going on today. So, we would come
[3:51:33] up with a plan on what it takes to
separate yourself from what you're
[3:51:39] connected to today with the Granberry
system. And we would lay that out and
[3:51:43] say, you know, to maintain your
coverage, you need to do this. To
[3:51:48] maintain your back haul, you would have
to do this. If you don't want to connect
[3:51:51] through their tower sites anymore, then
you'd have to do this. And so, we would
[3:51:55] come up with a detailed plan that says
you need to do X, Y, and Z, and here's
[3:52:01] the associated cost. And there could be
multiple options here. There's the
[3:52:05] situation of, you know, and I'm not sure
y'all are interested in this, but
[3:52:09] there's there's a system in Fort Worth
that you could potentially join.
[3:52:13] But if y'all want to own your own core,
be in complete control of your radio
[3:52:19] system, then the path I see forward is
that's an L3 Harris system with your own
[3:52:26] core here locally, and y'all manage it
and take care of it. And if somebody
[3:52:31] else wants to join y'all's system, then
y'all could potentially talk about that.
[3:52:35] But now you're in control. And our
deliverable would be that plan with
[3:52:40] associated costs and a an estimated
timeline that it would take you all to
[3:52:45] get there. That's what I would
anticipate our deliverable to be.
[3:52:50] » Okay. And is the cost the implementation
cost or
[3:52:54] » the so the cost we we could provide
typically we do this all the time is
[3:52:59] they would be budgetary costs for the
equipment the implementation
[3:53:04] um and we could do long-term maintenance
as well like ownership for 15 years
[3:53:09] let's say um
[3:53:14] » kind of like now opportunity to work out
with some Uh they kind of
[3:53:20] » come to the mic, please.
>> I'm sorry. Uh possible recoup cost by
[3:53:26] just similar what Granberry is doing. If
you can work out agreements with
[3:53:30] Somerville, IRAP, who else knows in the
future to they join your core and now
[3:53:35] you have an ILA with them, you know.
>> Well, that that [clears throat] got my
[3:53:38] attention on your last page. Uh so you
are working with and Somerville.
[3:53:44] » Yes, sir. cuz I've talked to both judges
in both in Beach County and u very um
[3:53:52] let's say receptive to working something
out.
[3:53:56] » Yes.
>> Yes. And I know and I kind of know that
[3:54:00] working with them obviously they uh with
the new ILA pricing they I think were in
[3:54:05] a very similar boat to you guys and
weren't necessarily happy with that. So,
[3:54:12] » so clearly our deliverable could include
um you know additional
[3:54:18] looking at some scenarios like that if
if if they were something that they were
[3:54:22] looking at too
>> check out the aistus report that we had
[3:54:27] you read that
>> what can you get
[3:54:30] » what was your major takeaway from that
report
[3:54:34] » I it it totally made sense from my
understanding what's been going down in
[3:54:38] the GR and I didn't have any uh any I
didn't think there was anything wrong
[3:54:43] with it there. You know, they correctly
pointed out how,
[3:54:48] you know, you your options are going to
be like we did with Davis K. Your
[3:54:51] options are going to be essentially
acquire your own core. Uh price it out.
[3:54:58] Price out what it would take to join a
Motorola core as Barry mentioned in Fort
[3:55:02] Worth. you know, there's cost costs
there because uh the infrastructure is
[3:55:06] going to have to be changed, but you
price it. You need to, you know, you're
[3:55:09] the customer and to make an informed
decision, you just need to know what
[3:55:13] those pricing costs are. Uh, you know,
so
[3:55:17] » yeah. Well, that that's what we were
looking for is what the RFP said is,
[3:55:22] » yeah,
>> list the alternatives, list the pros and
[3:55:24] cons, list all the costs,
>> and you know, so we can make and I
[3:55:29] didn't hear you say that.
>> Oh, go ahead. Sorry about that. You said
[3:55:33] it sounds like you need to go to this
and
[3:55:35] » no hair system and we're gonna tell you
how to get to hair system and no not at
[3:55:40] all.
>> Well, no. Clearly,
[3:55:42] » one of the options would be to look at
what it would cost to join a Motorola
[3:55:46] core uh as an example or the No, the
state doesn't really So, you know, but
[3:55:52] we would just look around. Yeah. And
give you as many options as possible so
[3:55:56] as a customer you make an informed
decision. So, would you like to restate
[3:55:59] what your vision of the what the final
report would look like?
[3:56:02] » I thought you were asking my opinion on
what the best path and the easiest path
[3:56:06] would be.
>> Well, then I mean then you're going to
[3:56:08] be biased if you already think of that's
the best path.
[3:56:11] » Well, it's only because you've made a
substantial uh investment in L3 Harris
[3:56:16] equipment at some sites. That's why
we're saying that. The question is,
[3:56:19] according to our RFQ,
>> what is your vision of the final report
[3:56:24] » options for you to evaluate and
determine what's the best option for the
[3:56:29] county? Um, and that can that can be
really broad. If you're interested in in
[3:56:36] joining another system, like I said,
Fort Worth, then that could be part of
[3:56:40] it as well. Or it could be purely that
you're wanting to look at having your
[3:56:45] own core and running your own system.
And then we could look at different
[3:56:49] options for all the care all the all the
providers. You know, what would that be
[3:56:55] for um Motorola? What would that be for
L3 Harris? What would that be for EF
[3:56:59] Johnson if if you want to go that far?
>> Talk about what is your time frame
[3:57:05] » for getting this completely done?
>> Well, I I guess it depends on how
[3:57:10] quickly we get a contract and and work
out all that, but I would say probably
[3:57:15] it just depends on that scope. If you
want to go the Fort Worth route and all
[3:57:19] that too,
>> um probably four to six months.
[3:57:23] » Yeah, sounds great. We didn't really go
in there. I will say this, we we just
[3:57:29] worked on a needs assessment study for a
county project that's 10 sites, 20
[3:57:35] channels per site simoc cast in another
state and we talked to two major
[3:57:42] manufacturers because they were really
the main options here. Um, and so that
[3:57:49] took probably about 4 months to get that
pricing, meet with them, talk to them,
[3:57:55] get because they have to go back and and
crank some numbers and bring back some
[3:58:00] information. They they don't just do it
overnight. They even though you would
[3:58:04] think that they would do it quicker than
they do, but to get all that
[3:58:08] information, ask the questions, look at
the information. And sometimes you got
[3:58:11] to go back and forth with them and
figure out, you know, what what they
[3:58:15] exactly mean. But to come to a final
product that would be deliverable to the
[3:58:20] county, I would say four to six months.
>> So you didn't I know I went back to your
[3:58:26] your response and I had a question mark.
What's the timeline? because there
[3:58:30] wasn't anything in here that um on your
it just said that you would you would
[3:58:36] achieve our timeline goals but you
didn't I mean this is you're you have a
[3:58:41] lot of experience doing this you did
this with Davies County so
[3:58:45] » sure
>> um I was just didn't understand why you
[3:58:48] didn't put in a timeline
>> timeline
[3:58:50] » apologize
[3:58:56] that's not
[3:59:01] It's it's clearly
>> four months.
[3:59:04] » Yeah,
>> four to six months.
[3:59:11] » I think boy, I should have thought to
say this earlier, but I think that it's
[3:59:16] important that that we understand that
this is not an us against them
[3:59:20] situation.
Granberry is in Hood County. Those are
[3:59:24] our taxpayers also. and we need to find
the best solution for everybody. I
[3:59:30] think, you know, just just to
re-emphasize that that it's it's, you
[3:59:34] know, we need to we need to come up with
the best for the whole county. So,
[3:59:39] completely agree.
[3:59:44] » Thank you'all very much.
>> Oh, thank you very much.
[3:59:46] » All right. Appreciate it.
>> Okay. Well, at straight up one o'clock,
[3:59:52] that concludes this question. Do we
>> do we need to call everybody back in and
[3:59:58] and do something similar with what we
did earlier?
[4:00:02] » Well, it
>> Yeah, I would like what I think we
[4:00:06] should have done on the last one is just
narrow it down to two or something like
[4:00:09] that uh to go forward and wait that
decision.
[4:00:16] » Well,
yeah. Do we want everybody to come back
[4:00:19] in or
>> tell them to all come back in?
[4:00:58] question.
[4:01:10] I'll make a motion to uh table the
decision until um 3:24 court
[4:01:19] » made by Commissioner Samson to table the
decision regarding RFQ 20263P25
[4:01:26] radio network consulting services till
the next commissioner's court on March
[4:01:32] 24, 2026. Second by
>> Commissioner Andrews. Any further
[4:01:38] [clears throat] discussion?
Not. All those in favor say I.
[4:01:43] » I.
>> All oppose say nay. It's unanimous. We
[4:01:46] will make a decision at that time.
Gentlemen, thank y'all all for coming
[4:01:50] down. Appreciate all your work. Thank
you'all. Appreciate it.