"Panama City Airport Teams With Navy, TSA On New Security System"

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Airport, Navy team up for security system
By Ed Offley
The Panama City (FL) News Herald 


PANAMA CITY - The Panama City-Bay County International Airport Authority on
Tuesday approved a partnership with two federal agencies to install and test
a state-of-the-art perimeter security system. 

The five-member board unanimously approved a memorandum of agreement with
the Transportation Security Administration and Naval Surface Warfare
Center-Panama City to proceed with the experimental Critical Area Protection
System (Back-bone) at the existing airport. 

Once installed, said David Vernon, TSA deputy federal security director at
the airport, "You will have a very robust core system that your folks will
be using at no cost to the airport." 

The security system will use wireless cameras, sensors and motiondetection
devices to monitor the airport perimeter fence line. Information gathered by
these devices will be sent to a central operation center, where security
officials will have access to all data. 

Under the agreement, the Airport Authority will provide access to the
project team to install, test and monitor the surveillance gear on airport
property, allow the project engineers to integrate the surveillance
equipment to its existing security system, and coordinate on safety and code
issues. 

The TSA will provide independent operational test and evaluation services
for the project, will share all test results with the airport and surface
warfare center, and monitor the test to ensure existing security standards
are maintained. 

The warfare center, as designer of the surveillance system, agreed to
provide the actual surveillance technology and equipment, coordinate with
specific test sites and installation plans, and analyze system performance. 

Project manager Michael Adams told The News Herald last month that one
technology innovation changes the way security guards monitor an area.
Normally, guards have one monitor screen for every camera, forcing them to
stare at dozens of monitors. 

While the agreement does not explicitly guarantee program will be relocated
to the new 4,000-acre airport under construction in West Bay, Adams said it
is federal officials' intention to transfer the security system to the new
facility when it opens in 2010. 

The perimeter security project follows a smaller joint research effort
involving security technology used in the terminal itself, officials said. 

"The equipment we have here will transition to the new airport," Adams said.


In other business Tuesday, the Airport Authority directed its legal counsel
to review a proposal by developer Keith Knuttson for a purchase option
contract on a 10-acre site currently housing the Florida Dog Fly Lab.
Attorney Bo Rivard said Knuttson is willing to pay the Airport Authority
$2.6 million, including $1 million to relocate the Dog Fly Lab up to a new
site. 

Rivard said it has been difficult to make progress on the purchase offer
because the Airport Authority owns the land, which is located at the Florida
Agricultural and Mechanical University campus at the end of Frankford Avenue
west of the airport. 

The state of Florida since 1963 has had a conveyance of the property that
will last as long as the laboratory continues to operate. 

After board member Gerry Clemons noted two other prospective developers also
have expressed interest in acquiring the tract, Chairman Joe Tannehill
directed authority attorney Michael Duncan to review all of the legal
aspects of the situation and report to the board at its next meeting. 

 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************