Claremont : Radio Equipment OKd

By a 3-1 vote Tuesday, the City Council agreed to spend $342,888 to buy radio equipment that will permit communication among all city departments.

“I think this is one case where more is better than less,” Mayor Nicholas L. Presecan said, backing a staff proposal to accept bids from Motorola, Dictaphone and Instant Replay.

The city communications system needs to be refurbished for use in a disaster such as the Feb. 28 Upland earthquake, city officials said. The current police radios operate on VHF frequencies incompatible with the UHF frequencies of community services radios, and most of the equipment is more than 15 years old and unreliable, they said.

Council member Algird Leiga voted against the project, favoring a proposal to buy less equipment and save $7,184.