XENIA — City Council recently authorized the purchase of Motorola portable radios and programming upgrades to existing radios for the fire and EMS division and the police division under their current contract with P&R Communications.

XFP and XPD had requested council’s approval to begin the process of replacing the portable radios carried by firefighters and police officers. City officials plan to reduce the financial impact of the equipment by spreading the replacement of the radios over a five-year period.

The current radios utilized by the divisions were purchased in 2007 or earlier. The new radios have increased capabilities and security measures.

Officials said that the radios being replaced will be be “ruggedized” as a rugged radio design better protects the radio from the high heat and stress of firefighting as well as potential impact damage from dynamic situations.

The radios for both divisions will also comply with the new standards for encryption required by the State of Ohio. The addition of Bluetooth to the existing radios that are not yet ready for replacement will enable “in mask” communications of all firefighters wearing SCBA.

The amount requested was $136,309 to purchase 28 APX6000XE ruggedized radios, 12 XE500 remote speakers/microphones, and upgrades to 31 existing APX6000 radios to Bluetooth-enabled with link-layer authentication.

The Xenia Police Division request came to $75,000, followed by the Xenia Fire Division’s two requests — one for $50,000 and one for $11,309. The purchases/upgrades would be paid out of funds appropriated for them in the city’s 2023 annual appropriation ordinance.

Reach Karen Rase at 937-502-4534.