Sedona City Council unanimously voted for a $1,107,587.30 link agreement with Zetron Inc., taking 17 minutes on April 8th, to replace the Sedona Police Station radio network with a new system that offers greater coverage.

“Sedona City Code Section 3.05.020.C. allows the city to procure goods and services without a formal bidding process by participating in a cooperative purchasing agreement with other government units, where the city’s best interests are provided,” the agreement states.

Based on the terms of the link agreement that coordinates SPD radio replacements with similar projects undertaken by the Sedona Fire District, Zetron will replace SPD’s analog system with MT-4E digital system. The system utilizes the Association of Public Safety Communications Official Associations, 25 standard that allows message traffic to be encrypted.

The proposed scope of work specifies that Zetron replaces the four receivers and two transmitters of the current set of SPD with seven transceivers and four receivers, specifying repeaters, power amplifiers, and cableization. The transceiver will be located at the northern end of the airport mesa. SFD Station 2 on Upper Red Rock Loop Road, Station 3 on Village of Oak Creek, and Station 4 on Uptown. Sedona Red Rock High School. Wastewater treatment plant. And Bear Mountain. Receivers will be located at Airport Mesa, the headquarters of the Sedona Police Station, SFD Station 1 in West Sedona, and Station 6 in the Chapel area. Channel 1 is transmitted at 158.7600 MHz and received at 156.0450 MHz, and Channel 2 is transmitted at 158.8950 MHz and received at 155.9250 MHz.

“Your mountain is beautiful, but it’s difficult for us to navigate radio communications,” said sales manager Rick, who felt he had commented on the equipment arrangement.

“How much improvement do you get?” asked Deputy Mayor Holi Prug. “We have terrain that cannot be changed.”

“It’s a huge improvement for what you have today,” Feld said.

“They already have a considerable number of these locations, so this just adds bricks to the system,” Zetron’s Don Brown said of SFD’s existing network. He explained that the system will vote among available transceivers to maximize signal reception. “It’s a closed system with some firewalls and routers.”

“So, is there any Russian hackers requesting payments to open this backup?” asked councillor Brian Fultz.

“It’s completely covered in the outside world,” Brown said.

SPD Support Services Manager Erin Loeffler said that by adopting a link agreement, the department can “avoid all remaining phases of this project.”

“If approved, planning and execution of this project will begin around July 1, 2025 with a cutover and completion date for the project in July 2026,” says Loeffler.

Councillor Kathy Kinsella has confirmed that city staff will not actually place orders for equipment until after July 1st, as funding allocations will be included in the fiscal year 2026 budget.

The council voted unanimously to approve the acquisition of the system.