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• FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -3- October 26, 2004 800 MHz Radio Plan Captain Ohl said he was most pleased to be at the special meeting and that it was a great opportunity for the local youngsters. He said the Federal government informed everyone they could no longer use a VHF radio system. The new 800 MHz technology will allow police, fire, and public works employees from any community in Ramsey County to talk with their counterparts in other cities, the County, and even the State of Minnesota. With current VHF and UHF technology, cities cannot talk to each other, unless they are on a statewide channel. They are also limited in the number of channels they can utilize, which can create communication problems in an emergency situation. He showed his radio to the audience and said they are more like a small computer and have a large capacity for numbers. He is looking forward to Ramsey County having the 800 MHz radio system because it will help increase public safety and interoperability. The meeting was opened to the audience for questions and commentary. Grace asked why the radios aren't more like a cell phone. Captain Ohl said they are similar to a Nextel phone, but the radios need much larger capacity. Council member Lamb said there is a • radio spectrum and you don't want interference between private calls and police and fire calls. Jason asked how many people can talk at once. Captain Ohl described the system and said that, in some instances, one individual can talk and a lot of people can hear. Gretel asked if they couldn't make it a little laptop. Captain Ohl said there are laptops in all of the police cars right now. Haley asked why police officers use walkie talkies. Captain Ohl said there are radios in the cars and the officers also carry radios with them. Emergency calls go to dispatch and dispatch uses the car radios to contact the police department. When the officers get out of their cars they carry a radio so they can communicate. The question and commentary period was closed. Mayor Gehrz said the City is determining how much money it will need to cover the cost of the radios. The new equipment for this conversion to 800 MHz will be covered in part by a grant from Ramsey County, in addition to financial resources from each community. Staff will present final cost estimates sometime in November. Local Government Structure Discussion Administrator Worthington explained that Falcon Heights is a city of the fourth class~ities • under 10,000 in population. 3