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Commissioners discuss 911 radio channels, paging and NextGen board; Motorola upgrades and channel licensing highlighted
Summary
County communications staff updated commissioners on transferring old radio channels to the engineer’s office, options for licensing, a planned Motorola phone/CAD replacement, channel-transfer costs and NextGen 9‑1‑1 governance and advisory board structure.
Communications staff told the Williams County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 20 that old radio channels licensed to county communications could be transferred to the engineer’s office so the engineers can use radios they now control, and offered several options for that transfer.
Staff said the physical work of moving a repeater and transferring licenses carries costs (a physical repeater move and license transfer were discussed) while the FCC license itself is modest — a license fee was quoted as about $50 per year. The engineer’s office offered to pay for the physical work at a vendor, Railcom; commissioners asked staff to check dependencies such as whether moving a repeater would affect Montpelier or other neighboring repeaters.
The communications update also covered a planned replacement for the county’s Motorola CallWorks phone system: the current contract expires at the end of next year and the vendor no longer supports the existing system. Staff said they are soliciting quotes for two options — Motorola’s Vesta and the state’s ComTech option — and described startup costs including new software and desk phones. No final vendor decision was made.
Staff briefed the board on the county’s paging and CAD mapping needs. A $11,322 quote to perform 40 hours of work to update CAD mapping (color-coded response zones and overlapping response areas) was presented; staff said the work could be charged to the entities requesting the change and that Motorola or local staff might handle some updates in coming months once new software arrives. Commissioners were concerned about who should pay and about changing maps before internal capacity to maintain them exists.
Commissioners and staff also discussed the state NextGen 9‑1‑1 board. NextGen membership is set by the state; an advisory board (the old board) can include more participants but non-voting. Commissioners asked staff to convene a first meeting of the existing advisory/“old” board then evolve toward the NextGen structure; staff was asked to identify appointees and ensure law‑enforcement and EMS voices are represented on advisory/coordination groups.
No formal vote was taken on policy changes; staff were directed to gather more information and quotes and return with recommendations.
