Washington County is beginning to implement a new, $24 million dollar 911 radio system that county leaders and first responders agree is long overdue.
County Commissioners and Motorola are holding an educational forum Wednesday night and inviting emergency officials to attend and ask questions.
“This is the safety of our first responders I can’t tell you how many police officers told me what’s it going to take, how many of us have to die before you do something about this system,” said Commissioner Nick Sherman. “There’s going to be a lot of people there tonight and it’s potentially going to be a hostile environment and they are hostile because for years they have been told this is going to be fixed and it never has...they are frustrated and they have every right to be frustrated.”
The county’s coverage does not meet Homeland Security standards right now, with some areas having 20-50% coverage.
The new Motorola contract includes new towers, radios and portable units and has expectations that 95% of the county will have coverage, or else they’ll be expected to fix it.
“The public safety is important and the radio system is the lifeline to it. It needed [to be] upgraded. But we gotta get it right, that’s how important it is,” said Larry Maggi, the county commissioner who didn’t vote for the Motorola contract. The cost keeps escalating. We aren’t sure about the coverage now. These are some of the questions that need answers and I think first responders are going to ask them tonight,”
Maggi tells Channel 11 they were previously going with another company and had already invested 6-8 million dollars in equipment that is now sitting unused.
“We have 6-8 million dollars worth of equipment at a hanger at the airport not being used. I want to make sure we are using taxpayer dollars worthwhile,” said Maggi.
The new system will connect Washington County to neighboring counties to improve communication, particularly during times of crisis and emergency.
The full implementation could take up to 18 months.
Tonight’s meeting is expected to be 90 minutes and could be heated. Several fire chiefs tell Channel 11 they have questions about coverage and cost they hope will be addressed.
The cost was around 23-24 million.
“My understanding [is] it’s escalating with more tower sites that weren’t included in the first cost, and we need to know all that,” said Maggi.
“The scenarios are endless to not have access to your first responders, cops, fire, EMS. I mean this is Washington County, we have the money to fix things, we are looking at all the spending that goes on, the basics need to be taken care of first, which is our first responders,” said Commissioner Sherman.
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