City officials approved a five-year contract with Motorolla for portable radios worth nearly $6 million, saying they were looking to maintain the same level of “serviceability and reliability” just minutes after representatives from L3Harris asked the council to defer its vote in favor of the Florida-based company’s proposal, which was $2.74 million less.
The contract was approved during the Ocala City Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, May 20.
Before the measure was approved, representatives from Communicators International, a distributor of L3Harris products, addressed the board.
The representatives emphasized that L3Harris is a local company that has relationships with state and national agencies, and asked the council to “defer” the action on the item to allow city leaders, not staff, to discuss the solution in detail.
The updated proposal from the company was for approximately $3.2 million, according to its representation, who noted that it was approximately $2.74 million less than the contract with Motorolla.
During discussion on the topic, city staff indicated that L3Harris’s equipment lacked compatibility with the current telecommunications infrastructure in Ocala. They stated that the business didn’t have any offices in the city and that if there were maintenance issues, the response time would be much longer.
Staff also stated that Motorolla had superior service and quality and that, despite the higher price point, the operational advantages outweighed the costs. They indicated that if the city were to build out a brand new radio network, it might make sense to bring in additional vendors. However, given the current infrastructure, renewing the contract with Motorolla was in the best interest of the public.
After additional discussion, several of the council members lent their support to the staff’s recommendation before unanimously voting to approve the five-year contract.
The new portable radios from Motorolla will replace seven-year-old equipment being used by the Ocala Police Department, Ocala Fire Rescue, and Ocala Electric Utility. The contract also includes “project management, installation, programming, customer training, systems integration, and engineering services” as needed, according to a city staff memo.
Payments from the city’s various departments totaling $1,040,391.02 will be made to Motorolla each year for five years. Additionally, public safety applications ($155,093.32) and DMS coverage ($32,643.96) will be charged in years two through five of the contract, bringing the combined total to $5,952,904.22.
City departments, including OPD, OFR, and OEU, have used Motorola radio equipment for over two decades. The current purchasing agreement offers the city a lease/purchase option to update its radio equipment, which was originally purchased in 2017. The renewal of the one-cent sales tax enabled the city to update its public safety radio system, according to city staff.
The first installment for the five payments is due in November 2026. Each department will receive new portable radios and the necessary accessories during Fiscal Year 2025.
The Ocala City Council next meets on Tuesday, June 3, at Ocala City Hall (110 SE Watula Avenue) at 4 p.m.