Frisco firefighters could soon carry equipment built to sniff out radiation, under a purchase the City Council is scheduled to take up Tuesday, Oct. 6.
The item, on the consent agenda, would approve a $139,977 purchase order with Farrwest Environmental Supply, a Universal City company, for what the city calls radiation detection backpacks. According to a memo from Administrative Services Director Daniel Ford, the order covers four backpacks, each fitted with a gamma detection box, a smartphone, a charger kit, a manual and a calibration certificate.
It also includes 10 personal radiation detectors that warn the wearer when radiation reaches hazardous levels, plus carrying cases, a testing tool and cut foam inserts to protect the instruments in transit.
The vendor's Aug. 21 estimate lists one pack with a sensitive neutron detection box and three packs that pair gamma detection with a lighter-weight neutron detector.
The memo says the gear would strengthen the department's response to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive incidents. No local tax money is involved: the funds come from a U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant for radiation detection backpacks. The city is buying through the BuyBoard purchasing cooperative under contract 798-26 rather than taking separate bids.
Traffic enforcement grant renewed
A second public safety grant sits a few lines away on the same agenda. The council is set to accept $70,407.34 from the Texas Department of Transportation for the police department's Selective Traffic Enforcement Program, known as STEP, for the year that began Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2027.
The money pays officer salaries for extra traffic stops in the parts of town where crashes are most frequent and most severe, according to a memo from grants coordinator Lacey Troster. It is a reimbursement grant, and the city's share of about $17,158 is covered through employee fringe benefits rather than new spending, bringing the total project to roughly $87,566.
