The Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS) was dealt another blow yesterday when the Los Angeles City Council voted to halt  construction of LTE cell sites at city police and fire stations and said its representatives on the LA-RICS Joint Powers Authority should “begin working on alternative locations, commercial structures or alternative and less intrusive technology solutions.”

On a 12-0 vote, the council also authorized its representatives on LA-RICS to “work to terminate the LTE project if it is determined that bifurcation [of governance of LA-RICS’s land mobile radio and LTE systems] is not possible and the LTE system cannot be completed by the” deadline set under LA-RICS’s $154.6 million Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant. The deadline for construction to be completed under that grant is Sept. 30.

The city is the latest jurisdiction in Los Angeles County to halt construction of sites for the public safety LTE system. Last month, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to halt construction of cell towers at fire stations in the county and at county-owned sites opposed by residents (TRDaily, March 27).

The supervisors also voted to write the Commerce Department and the county’s congressional delegation to seek an extension of LA-RICS’s BTOP grant. The officials also voted to halt approving the signing of agreements for cell sites on other county property until the county receives a response concerning extending the grant deadline.

At the IWCE show in Las Vegas last month, the executive director of LA-RICS ripped the county’s firefighters’ union local for raising concerns that the deployment of cell towers at fire stations to enable public safety broadband service will cause adverse health effects to firefighters due to RF emissions (TRDaily, March 19).

“We’re having a hell of a time with the fire union,” LA-RICS Executive Director Pat Mallon said at the show. “It’s causing all kinds of headaches for us.”

The LA-RICS project originally planned to deploy 232 cell sites but now plans to deploy 177 because some independent cities have dropped out, Mr. Mallon said at the IWCE show. He could not be reached for comment today on yesterday’s vote by the LA City Council.

LA-RICS is one of five early builder projects working with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) to provide lessons ahead of the nationwide deployment of a public safety broadband network. FirstNet officials say that one lesson LA-RICS is providing is the difficulty in signing agreements with localities.

Yesterday’s motion, which was offered by Councilmember Mitchell Englander and Council President Herb Wesson, expressed concern that LA-RICS “will have to bear the full costs of any required work not completed” by the deadline for BTOP construction. “These cost uncertainties, coupled with continued withdrawals of other jurisdictions from the LA-RICS JPA, delays in construction, and concerns by end users at proposed LTE sites make it necessary to immediately halt the construction of the LTE System,” the motion said.

The motion also said “that should alternative locations or technology solutions be identified, that LA-RICS work with key stakeholders including but not limited to City Councilmembers, the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, and the Los Angeles Police Protective League.”

“The intended users of this system, firefighters and police officers, have expressed concerns about the construction of the LTE system at Fire and Police stations throughout the City,” Councilmember Englander said in a news release. “While there is no question about the need for a successful interoperability system in the region, it is critically important to implement it correctly the first time around. We cannot have an effective emergency communications system without input from our public safety professionals on the front line.” – Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily