The gist
The agreement with Unmanned Vehicle Technologies would provide radar-based infrastructure to allow autonomous drone deployment, as well as software, pilot licenses, a drone and its ancillary equipment.
“So the vehicle technologies in this they provide are what are called nodes, so a radar device throughout the city to allow a drone aircraft to launch and respond to calls and feed video information back to the officers and communications,” Assistant Police Chief Willie Richards said.
The $692,799 contract would be split over five years. A majority of the contract would be paid for using $417,000 in state grand funding from the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority. This will cover the first two years of the drone program, while the city intends to seek additional grant funding.
Also on the agenda
Council will also vote on a contract for phase two of a project to enhance the Round Rock Public Safety Training Center.
The project will expand the main building and include a new classroom building, fire shed for training vehicles, a police shed for vehicles, a new skills pad and a backup generator.
Chad McDowell, director of general services, said the new classroom space will allow simultaneous training for both the fire department and police department.
McDowell said the project will cost close to $19 million. About $13 million will come from a 2023 general obligation bond while the city will look for other funding avenues to cover the remaining cost.
