Commission approves purchase of four Motorola handheld radios for fire department

The Liberal City Commission voted July 22 to approve the purchase of four Motorola APX handheld radios and chargers for the fire department at a quoted price of $18,172.32.

Staff explained the purchase was budgeted for 2025 and is part of an effort to begin annual replacements to avoid large lump-sum purchases in the future. Fire department presenters said the current radios are six years old since a systemwide analog-to-digital conversion and that aging equipment and a degraded 400 MHz backup repeater justify moving to single-band 700/800 MHz radios.

"Our radios are now 6 years old after the big switch over from analog to digital 6 years ago," the presenter said, explaining the department's plan to budget for an annual replacement program. The department noted one radio had been stolen last year and insurance proceeds would help fund the fourth radio now being purchased.

Action: Commissioner Warren moved to approve the purchase at the quoted price of $18,172.32; Commissioner Parsons seconded the motion. The measure passed 5-0.

Ending: Staff said the city will continue to budget for phased radio replacement to spread costs over time and maintain equipment that is P25-compliant for interoperability.