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Court approves Active911 for fire/EMS; emergency services report highlights grass fires and radio volunteers
Summary
The commissioners approved an Active911 contract to provide an app-based dispatch and notification service for fire and EMS. The county's emergency-services briefing noted recent small grass fires, work with Amateur Radio Emergency Services volunteers and concerns about timing for federal hazard-mitigation grants and plan update deadlines.
The Freestone County Commissioners Court voted to move forward with implementing Active911, an app-based alerting system for fire and emergency medical services, after staff described functionality and an estimated annual cost.
County staff told the court Active911 integrates with dispatch and sends notifications and mapping directly to devices; staff estimated about 275 devices countywide at an annual cost of about $3,795, or $13.80 per device per year. The staff presentation said the vendor usually raises fees by no more than 3% in subsequent years.
Separately, the county's emergency-services report said the department responded to two small grass fires on a recent red-flag warning day and that a tabletop active-shooter exercise in February involving school districts revealed possible updates to emergency plans. The emergency-services officer described outreach to the Amateur Radio Emergency Services group in Freestone County and noted ham-radio volunteers could support communications and damage assessment if primary systems failed, but that licensed operators must run the equipment.
Staff also briefed the court on the county's hazard mitigation plan, which is set to expire July 12, 2026. Texas Division of Emergency Management staff recommended the county begin the 12-to-18-month update process now; staff cautioned that applying for certain hazard-mitigation grants could push project timelines past the plan expiration and potentially obligate funding for neighboring jurisdictions.
The court approved the Active911 contract by motion and second; the vote was recorded as in favor with no recorded opposition.
