20-102 - Puget Sound Emergency Radio Network (PSERN) - Interlocal Cooperation Agreement

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20-103 Council Approval 9/21/20 MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is entered into among the cities of Auburn, Federal Way, Kent, Renton, and Tukwila, the five member cities that formed Valley Communications Center, a Governmental Administrative Agency created by interlocal agreement under Chapter 39.34 RCW (Valley Com). RECITALS A. Valley Com is responsible for the ownership, operation and maintenance of various elements in the current King County Emergency Radio Communications System (KCERCS), a voice radio system that has been in existence since 1993 and is increasingly unsupported by the supplier of the system's equipment, software, and related repairs. B. Valley Com, King County, the city of Seattle, and the Eastside Public Safety Communications Agency (EPSCA) determined that it is in the public interest to implement a new public safety radio system, the Puget Sound Emergency Radio Network (PSERN), that will provide public safety agencies and other user groups in the region with improved coverage and capacity, as well as uniformly high-quality emergency radio communications. C. The costs of implementing the PSERN system are financed through a funding measure approved by voters at the April 2015 election, and the above-mentioned parties then executed a separate implementation agreement ("Implementation Period ILA") that designated King County to be the lead agency to plan, procure, finance, and implement the PSERN system with the oversight of a joint board established pursuant to the Implementation Period ILA, Valley Com's Executive Director has represented the Valley Com member cities on this joint board, reporting back to the Valley Com Administration Board, which is comprised of the five mayors from Valley Com's member cities. D. The Implementation Period ILA contemplates creation of a new separate governmental agency under RCW 39.34.030(3)(b) that is organized through an interlocal agreement as a non-profit corporation under the Interlocal Cooperation Act (Operator ILA). Once formed, this agency will assume the ownership and control of PSERN during its useful life. Just as with the Implementation Period ILA, the Operator ILA will be subject to oversight by a Board of Directors, comprised of one representative each from King County, Seattle, the Valley Com member cities, and the EPSCA member cities. E. Under the Operator ILA, Section 4.2.1.4, the Valley Com member cities' representative will be selected from one mayor or city manager or his/her designee representing the Cities of Auburn, Federal Way, Kent, Renton and Tukwila. The Operator ILA also provides that the Valley Com member cities retain the right to determine who will represent them on the PSERN Board of Directors. The purpose of this MOU is to designate the manner in which the five Valley Com member cities will select its representative.