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Emergency management seeks grants for fiber backhaul but says microwave will remain primary
Summary
County emergency management staff told the board they applied for federal and local grants to fund fiber-optic backhaul and microwave dishes, but said fiber would act as a backup and would not resolve a known bottleneck at the Thorn site.
County emergency management staff said they have applied for grant funding to install fiber-optic backhaul and additional microwave dishes but cautioned the fiber would be a secondary route, not a replacement for the department's microwave network.
The department presented details during an operations update, saying it had submitted an application for the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) and a separate “Wild Horse” grant to pay for fiber and multiple microwave dishes. Staff said the EMPG award is a fixed allotment and that the department expected roughly $25,000 in that grant cycle.
The department described a planned fiber run from the bottom of Crawl Hollow up to Thorn and noted an existing fiber path that runs from the cooperative to Dayton. Staff said vendors Raycom and a company they referred to as Valence had advised that upgrading the county’s microwave links could be a lower-cost option and that both radio vendors could use any new fiber for backhaul.
Department staff emphasized that fiber would function primarily as a backhaul to improve reliability between dispatch and Thorn. They said the larger performance constraint is a capacity bottleneck “at Thorn,” and that installing fiber or microwave to Thorn would not by itself remove downstream limitations beyond that site.
Staff reported they expect vendor quotes on a microwave upgrade and are pursuing the two grant opportunities to pay for a mix of fiber and microwave dishes; the grants and vendor quotes are pending. No formal decision or contract award was made at the meeting.
Why it matters: the county’s 9-1-1 and radio communications rely on layered backhaul and microwave links; staff said added backhaul could make some links more reliable but would not by itself solve the Thorn-site capacity problem.
Implementation details and next steps: staff said they had requested formal quotes from vendors, applied for the EMPG and the Wild Horse grant, and would report back once awards and vendor proposals were available. The department did not set a timeline for construction or state whether permits or third-party approvals would be required for the proposed fiber run.
Speakers quoted or referenced in this report were identified in the meeting only by first name or role; this article attributes statements to “department staff” when the transcript did not provide a full name and role.
