C. Milton Wright High is next to get turf field

The athletic field at C. Milton Wright High School in Bel Air will be the next in Harford County to be converted from grass to synthetic turf.

The Harford County Board of Estimates voted Thursday to award $783,745 contract to Dixie Construction Company Inc. of Churchville to install the new field.

This would make C. Milton the sixth high school in the county to have a turf field and the ninth field overall to undergo the modernization. Three parks and recreation facilities in Fallston, Bel Air and Creswell also have artificial turf fields.

"Currently Harford County Parks and Recreation in cooperation with Harford County Public Schools are maintaining all the synthetic turf fields with in-house resources and equipment," a memo from Paul Magness, chief of capital planning and development, to Procurement Director Debbie Henderson states.

Dixie's was the lowest of seven bids for the C. Milton Wright project.

The contract includes grooming equipment for the field, Dave Goodwin, with parks and recreation, told the board.

Harford County Councilman Jim McMahan said he is concerned that with constantly changing technology, the equipment purchased as part of this contract would not be able to be used on the county's other turf fields.

Goodwin assured him and the board that it could and wouldn't harm the older fields.

Other schools with synthetic turf include North Harford High School, which was the first to have its field upgraded in 2008, Edgewood, Bel Air, Havre de Grace and Harford Technical high schools.

Sheriff's Office radar units

The Harford County Sheriff's Office will purchase 30 Genesis II radar units and 10 Scout handheld radar units from Decatur Electronics Inc., of Phoenix, for $63,340.

"This purchase will be funded by the Sheriff's Office operating budget," a memo from Jennifer Rogers, budget manager for the sheriff's office, to Stacy Rappold with the office of procurement, stated.

Each Genesis unit is priced at $1,745 and the Scout units are $1,099 each.

McMahan asked Deputy Nicholas McGowan, who was representing the sheriff's office at the meeting, if the new units will require calibration and how often.

McGowan said the units are tested at the beginning and end of shifts and the department certifies each unit once a year.

The units also do a self-test every 15 minutes, McGowan added.

"If something's wrong, nothing will display at all," he said.

EOC recording system

The Division of Emergency Operations' recording system, which records all telephone lines, will be replaced with a system through NICE Systems Inc., of Rutherford, N.J. The contract with NICE totals $197,0555.

Telephone lines recorded in the system include 911 calls, fire and EMS and calls to law enforcement in the county.