A police radio tower was installed in Doctors Inlet in 1996. Five years later, Clay County's Sheriff's Office is still using its old system and the contractor has missed a recent deadline to have the system running.

By Diana Marrero
Times-Union staff writer

Clay County has spent more than $4 million on a new law enforcement communications system over five years, but the equipment has been collecting dust since 1995.

The old system, which has been around since at least the 1970s, is now overloaded with more than 100 calls a day. Sheriff Scott Lancaster said the aging system is endangering the lives of county law enforcement officials because it is unreliable.

E.F. Johnson, the contractor selected to do the job, delivered a $2.5 million system that was worthless in parts of the county because of trees and hilly terrain that caused faulty transmissions. After years of negotiations between the county and E.F. Johnson and several deadline extensions, the contract was finally terminated in 1997.

E.F. Johnson was purchased by Transcrypt International Inc., which promised to work out a new contract with the county. Clay County's emergency communications system is one of nine troubled systems Transcrypt International inherited when it bought E.F. Johnson.

The county later agreed to pour another $1.4 million into upgrades for the system, which was supposed to be operational by Jan. 17. It was not.

"This is not pretty," said County Commissioner Patrick McGovern. "I'm very concerned it's dragged on so long and we still don't have an operational system. I would have loved to throw up [my] hands and give up many times. But I think we're grinding toward the end of it."

Commissioner George Bush is scheduled to meet Tuesday with others involved in the project to find out how far along the company is and decide what action the county will take. Officials can take the recourse provided for in the contract: Charge the company $1,000 each day that it is late and an extra $25,000 a month.

Bush said the commission will hold the company accountable for the delay. "If they don't meet their deadline, [the company's] going to have to pay for it," he said.

Bush said he was troubled that E.F. Johnson was awarded the contract because the company had undercut other bidders. But the commission researched the company and found it had been in business for 73 years, he said. So commissioners, including Bush, agreed to continue working with E.F. Johnson. Durwood Smith, a Clay County resident who seldom misses a commission meeting, said the situation does not surprise him. And he thinks others are not complaining because they don't know about it.

"It figures," Smith said. "They've spent a bunch of money for nothing. It's a lot of money. Oh, it was supposed to just be perfect. Somebody should be held accountable. It wouldn't surprise me at all if it still won't work."

A 30-day testing period is needed before the Sheriff's Office can start using the system, said Capt. Mike Taylor, communications chief, who's been overseeing the project since its beginning.

Those tests have not yet started but they are expected to begin within a few weeks, said Jim Hano, who's in charge of the company's North American systems.

"It's just a matter of getting the details worked out," he said.

Lancaster said he's optimistic the company is close to completing the project, though he admits his patience is wearing thin.

"In the eight years I've been sheriff, this has been the most frustrating issue I've dealt with," he said.

"It's either going to work real soon or he's going to be looking for another job," Lancaster joked, pointing to Taylor.

Taylor laughed nervously, as though he was unsure whether Lancaster was joking or not.

Taylor says he's gotten some hints from co-workers into pursuing a new line of work: a Home Depot apron and a Burger King crown have mysteriously appeared in his office.

Contents © 2008 by David Schoenberger