Bids sought on depot alert radios

This story was published Thu, Jul 22, 1999

By the Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON - The Federal Emergency Management Agency is seeking bids on a contract to distribute special tone-alert radios.

The tone-alert radios are a critical link in the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program to alert people who are indoors if lethal nerve agents escape from the Umatilla Chemical Depot near Hermiston.

The radios will provide warnings to people indoors with an 85-decibel tone followed by emergency instructions in English and Spanish. About 15,500 radios are to be placed in homes and businesses near the depot in Morrow and Umatilla counties.

The contract to distribute the radios is expected to cost between $200,000 and $400,000. In the contract, FEMA is specifically targeting small businesses with average gross earnings of under $7Êmillion.

"We feel smaller businesses are more customer-service oriented," said Jesse Seigal, FEMA's regional public information officer. "This is a public safety issue, and understanding that is as important as the device itself."

Seigal said he also hopes local small businesses are encouraged to bid.

The tone-alert radio prototypes are being tested at an independent lab and in the field at several area homes and businesses before full-scale production and distribution begins.

To receive specifications and requirements to bid on the radio distribution contract, businesses should write to: FEMA Region 10, Attn: Bill Webb, 130 228th St., S.W., Bothell, Wash., 98021-9797. Refer to RFP number EMS-1999-RP-0008. There is a $25 nonrefundable bid document fee required, payable by check or money order to FEMA.

Proposals are due by Aug. 11.

 

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