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FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA, June 22, 2015 — The City of Roanoke, VA awarded the Hughes Associates Architects & Engineers / Federal Engineering, Inc. Team (Hughes Associates A&E/FE) a contract to assist the City’s Department of Technology in identifying and evaluating at least three possible locations for a new Emergency (E-911) Communications Center within the City of Roanoke.

Mr. Ronald F. Bosco, FE’s President, provided an overview of the project: “The current E-911 Center is housed in an existing building that is undersized and its facilities are inadequate for the intended mission and purpose. A new center is needed, one that would be located in another site away from the current building. The Hughes Associates A&E /FE Team will develop a conceptual floor plan suited to each site selected as part of the E-911 study. The floor plan will take into consideration any unusual features of the site such as changes in terrain/topography that might dictate the need for multiple or partial levels, as well as might impact access to/from adjoining roads and streets for each site identified.”

Mr. Bosco continued: “The Hughes Associates A&E /FE Team will also assist the Department of Technology in preparing a comprehensive project budget for each of the three sites. The budget will include all costs related to the facility including land acquisition, building construction, furniture and fixtures, equipment (communications, computer, call reception modules/stations), driveways, parking, utilities (installation and connection fees), storm water improvements, permits, A-E fees and fees for survey, geotechnical investigation, inspection-testing services, and other similar project related expenses. Budgets shall also take into consideration the City’s commitment to achieve goals of sustainability and energy-efficiency in its buildings and to include the achievement of at least a “Silver” rating through LEED, a certification program developed under the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).”

Mr. D. Jeffry Parkhill, NCARB, AIA, of Hughes Associates A&E stated: “We selected Federal Engineering because of the firm’s in depth knowledge of the complex systems typically found in Emergency Communications Centers including E-911, NG9-1-1, radio consoles, CAD, RMS, AVL, telecom CPE, and support systems. FE’s role will be to assess these systems and provide their impacts on the new build to Hughes Associates for incorporation into the overall design and budgeting process.”

Federal Engineering provides analysis, design, procurement, and implementation support for NG9-1-1, PSAPs, ECCs, and EOCs. These services complement FE’s wide range of consulting services in public safety and public service communications involving LTE as well as traditional VHF, UHF, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 4.9GHz mobile radio systems. Since 1983, FE has completed thousands of communications projects for 40 state governments, as well as numerous local and federal government clients. Most recently, FE has expanded its service offerings to support FirstNet planning in anticipation of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network.

In addition to its public sector work, Federal Engineering provides design and implementation support services for voice, data, and video networks used in the transportation, utilities, aerospace, finance, education, publishing, and computer services industries. FE’s certified independence ensures that clients receive objective, unbiased consulting services that are not influenced by any particular technology, product, vendor, or approach.