TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Douglas J. Hewett, ICMA-CM, City Manager
Jeffrey Yates, ICMA-CM, Assistant City Manager
FROM: Taylor Floyd, Budget & Evaluation Director
Kevin Dove, Fire Chief
DATE: June 22, 2026
RE:Title
Adopt Capital Project Ordinance 2026-42 to appropriate $863,198 for the Station Alerting System ReplacementTitle
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COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
All
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Goal 1: Safe and Secure Community
Executive Summary:
The City’s current fire station alerting system has reached the end of its useful life, and replacement hardware components are no longer available. This system is used by 911 Communications to notify fire stations and responding units of emergency calls for service. If components of the current system fail, emergency responder notification could be delayed. City Council is asked to adopt Capital Project Ordinance 2026-42 to appropriate $863,198 from bond premium proceeds to replace the fire station alerting system at fire stations throughout the City.
Background:
This project will replace the City’s outdated fire station alerting system with a modern, more comprehensive system and align with work being completed by Cumberland County Emergency Services and the Cumberland County Fire Chiefs Association to upgrade digital voice dispatch and county fire station alerting systems during fiscal years 2026 and 2027. Once completed, all fire stations in the county will operate on the same alerting system, improving consistency, coordination, and reliability across emergency response operations.
Issues/Analysis:
In 2025, Cumberland County Emergency Services initiated a two-phase project with U.S. Digital Designs to improve emergency dispatch and fire station alerting capabilities. Phase I, funded by the County, includes the deployment of digital voice dispatch capabilities. Phase II includes the installation of a fire station alerting system across City and County fire departments, with each participating entity responsible for funding its own system upgrades. The City received assurances from U.S. Digital Designs and CentralSquare that Phase I could be implemented first and that Phase II could be completed later as funding became available.
However, during configuration and testing in late 2025, it was determined that CentralSquare could not send alerts to both the existing system and the new system at the same time, which contradicted earlier and repeated assurances. The project team was unable to identify an alternative that would allow the City to activate the existing system without service degradation, preventing the City from participating in the June 9, 2026, digital voice dispatch go-live. Replacing the current station alerting system with the U.S. Digital Designs G2 Fire Station Alerting System will ensure interoperability with the County’s digital voice dispatch project, maintain current service levels, and support consistent fire station alerting across the City and County.
Budget Impact:
These appropriations are funded with bond premium proceeds, and there is no impact to the General Fund balance.
Options:
City Council may adopt Capital Project Ordinance 2026-42 to appropriate $863,198 for the Station Alerting System Replacement or not adopt Capital Project Ordinance 2026-42 and provide further guidance to staff.
Recommended Action::Recommended Action
Staff recommends that Council adopt Capital Project Ordinance 2026-42 to appropriate $863,198 for the Station Alerting System Replacement
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Attachments:
Capital Project Ordinance 2026-42
FFD Station Alerting Memo