Port Manatee to Get Communication Boost

PALMETTO -- At Thursday's meeting, Port Authority Board members approved Phase I of a Mass Notification System that connects their telephones and cameras, while integrating them into a modern security network, linked to a command and control center designed to disseminate emergency information.

The Manatee County Port Authority (MCPA) is the fiduciary agent for the FEMA 2011 Port Security Grant Program, which was awarded $2,576,493 for security improvements within the Tampa Bay area. The MCPA submitted a request for -- and granted -- the funds to modernize their notification system.

The authority awarded MCP, $125,000 for a Mass Notification System, $250,000 for container yard cameras, and $180,980 for a tenant cargo integration system.

Avaya Inc. will be the company doing the upgrades. They are the only of the four vendors that the state is contracted with that can fit the bill for all of the components compatible with MCPA's needs.

Hayes, Avaya's contracted installer, has agreed to provide the upgrade for the port's telephone system at a cost of $95,564.32, bringing the total operation to an estimated $650,000.