The Warren County Commissioners on Wednesday took significant steps to facilitate a project aimed at modernizing the county’s existing radio system infrastructure.
Originally phase two of a radio project implemented several years ago, this was a phase that took time to plan and quantify. In addition to known coverage gaps throughout the county, some of the county’s tower sites are not considered “structurally deficient.”
Three towers are planned for construction through this project, two located on private land near Sugar Grove and Sheffield and a third on federal land in the Scandia area.
“We have an obligation to the public and our providers who are doing good things out there,” Commissioner Ken Klakamp said.
“Thank you for bringing this forward,” Department of Public Safety Ken McCorrison said during Wednesday's meeting. “This is a continuation of a project that started in 2018. We’re ready to replace aging radio infrastructure and bring it up to 2025-2026 standards.”
Three different agreements were approved during Wednesday’s meeting. Two of the agreements pave the way for the purchase of radio equipment from Motorola for both connectivity on the state P-25 radio system as well as the existing analog system.
The third, with Capital Area Communications, secures equipment for microwave connectivity necessary to permit the county’s towers to communicate with each other and with the 911 Center.
“Right now, in our current antiquated system, we connect with phone lines,” McCorrison said. “Every time it rains (or) we have weather changes, we have connectivity issues.”
He described the microwave capacity as a “more modern way to connect our towers.”
“I appreciate you working with getting this radio project further on down the road,” Rich Barrett, president of the Warren County Fire Services, said. “Some of our emergency services are struggling with signal. (This project) should take care of most of the problems we’ve got.”
“This is going to cost us a lot less than we originally anticipated,” Commissioner Tricia Durbin added.
Terms have been agreed to with two private property owners who have indicated their willingness to allow us to place towers on their land.
The commissioners approved those agreements on Wednesday, as well, pending the negotiation of final terms.
The county wishes to thank those individuals for their willingness to engage with us to allow for the placement of towers at locations that provide the greatest coverage enhancements and close the most significant coverage gaps in the county’s radio system.
McCorrison said the two agreements approved Wednesday are for 30 years.