Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett has requested a special meeting of the county’s E9-1-1 board instead of a workshop later this month so members can vote sooner on a radio system contract.
The board’s attorney said the mayor will get his wish.

In a letter Wednesday to the attorney for the Knox County Emergency Communications District, Burchett requested that the board nominate and appoint a board chairman, and that the board review a radio communications contract award.

The workshop, now a full meeting, was scheduled for 8 a.m. Feb. 18 at the E9-1-1 Center on Bernard Avenue. The next scheduled quarterly meeting of the E9-1-1 board is April 15.

Confusion has surrounded actions of the E9-1-1 board since Jan. 21, when a motion to approve a multimillion-dollar contract for a new digital radio system died for lack of a second and never underwent discussion.

Since then, other questions have been raised about the board’s bylaws, communication between members outside meetings, and how the board’s officers are selected.

“Because it is unclear whether there is a duly elected chairperson, I’m asking for your guidance, as the board’s legal council (sic),” Burchett wrote to board attorney Don Howell, “as to the best way to proceed in calling for a special meeting at the time already reserved for the workshop.”

Because Burchett is vice chairman of the E9-1-1 board, “there has been an appropriate request” for an emergency meeting, Howell said.

“I think that’s a great idea, if we can get a quorum for that date,” Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero said.

Burchett’s letter came a day after he and Rogero released separate announcements calling for another attempt at a vote on the winning bid to replace the county’s digital emergency communications system.

The contract, if approved, would have severed ties with Motorola Solutions, the longtime E9-1-1 service provider in Knox County, in favor of Harris Corp.

Harris bid $7.4 million, Motorola bid $8.2 million, and a third company, Tait Communications, bid $6.2 million. The bids for Tait and Harris each climbed from there by $1.5 million for upgrades to the Motorola products and contract add-ons by Knox County Purchasing.

After the meeting, members of the E9-1-1 board questioned the process used to select the Harris bid — including what some claimed was a lack of input from emergency response personnel during the selection. Burchett and Rogero have defended the county’s purchasing process.

Knox County E9-1-1 Center Executive Director Bob Coker said Wednesday afternoon he had not yet seen Burchett’s letter.

Coker said he wasn’t aware of other board members requesting agenda items be added to the workshop.

The workshop — now a full meeting — was planned so the board could decide what to do after the digital radio proposal from Harris died.

“We need to get the public notice out and get the agenda together,” Coker said.

A notice of the special meeting must be published in a newspaper, he said. Coker said rulings have dictated the meeting notice be published from several days to a week before the meeting to serve as adequate notice to the public of the special meeting.