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Council approves $2.6 million for CCP communications upgrades to protect county radio links
Summary
Allen County Council approved up to $2.6 million to address a microwave line-of-sight problem affecting public-safety radio communications; plan includes leasing a tower on Maples Road and coordination through the Joint Permit Oversight Board.
The Allen County Council on April 9 approved an appropriation of up to $2.6 million from the LIT Public Safety fund to support communications work by the County Communications and Public Safety (CCP) consortium, including leasing a tower to re-route microwave paths disrupted by the Smith Road landfill.
Why it matters: The county’s public-safety radio system supports sheriff, police, fire and EMS dispatch. A compromised microwave path into the Rousseau Center dispatch tower could degrade coverage, particularly on the county’s southeast side.
Robert Born, president of the Allen County Chiefs Association, urged the council to support the appropriation, saying the funds would help “strengthen our radio communication system” and assist southeast-side coverage. “What this appropriation is gonna do for us is to help build our radio system to be even stronger than what it is now,” Born said during public comment.
Sheriff Troy Hershberger, standing in for CCP staff member Mike Reichert who was absent, told the council a lease on a Federated Media tower on Maples Road would provide a route around the landfill’s blockage and strengthen southeast coverage. He described a dual-path approach to maintain system integrity into the Rousseau Center and said the landfill’s height and tree growth were beginning to impede the microwave signal.
Hershberger summarized the technical intent: lease the Maples Road tower to bring the GM tower’s signal around the south side and provide redundancy via other corridors such as Lake Avenue and Goshen Road. "This will certainly enhance that and make that much better for the entire Southeast part of Allen County," he said.
The presentation noted Motorola’s modeling protects the chosen path for about 10 years under current assumptions, but future construction or growth could affect line of sight—one reason the county’s Joint Permit Oversight Board will be used to coordinate tall-structure permitting. The council also heard that the city of Fort Wayne had not yet taken its separate approval; the county will not spend funds until both partners have met their obligations.
Technology alternatives such as Starlink were discussed; staff said Starlink currently lacks the reliability standards (the presentation cited industry "five nines" expectations for 9-1-1 systems) to serve as a primary replacement, though it may be viable as an emergency backup.
Motion and vote: A council member moved to appropriate up to $2.6 million from the LIT Public Safety fund for the CCP item; the motion carried, announced as "passes 6 0 1." The council recorded that Fort Wayne would act separately on April 22 and that the county contribution is structured as 50% of capital costs and 80/20 for operations per the CCP agreement.
Ending: Council members said the upgrade addresses an urgent officer- and public-safety concern and thanked CCP presenters and public-safety partners for their work and outreach.
