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St. Mary's County outlines microwave network upgrades, radio and pager purchases; Active911 redundancy questioned
Summary
At the June 11 St. Mary's County Emergency Services Board meeting, Department of Emergency Services Director Jennifer Utz reported an ongoing microwave replacement project and equipment purchases included in the FY26 budget. Board members raised questions about redundancy for Active911 and reliance on pagers as a backup.
Director Jennifer Utz, Department of Emergency Services, told the St. Mary's County Emergency Services Board on June 11 that the county's microwave replacement project is moving forward and that vendors will replace routers at tower sites before full tower work begins later this summer and into the fall.
"You will be getting advanced notice moving forward of any anticipated interruptions in service to make sure that all your members are aware as the routers are updated," Utz said, describing the work as a phased rollout. She said vendor Harris is starting router replacement work "this week and next week" and that tower climbs to replace the microwaves will be coordinated with departments in advance.
The FY26 budget approved by the county commissioners included equipment purchases for emergency communications, Utz said. She described the package as containing replacement radios and pagers: "the 168 radios replacement for fire and 4 additional radios ... So a total of 172 radios," and "45 pagers for the companies that requested them," and she identified the volunteer center program and the volunteer tax-credit/stipend as part of that package.
Board members used the report to press DES on how alerts would be delivered if Active911 or the county email feed fails. St. Mary's County EMS Chief Sean Davidson asked whether there is a redundancy for Active911 "in the event that the primary goes down," noting Active911 relies on the county email server. "Is there a fail safe in the event that the primary goes down a way to keep it running?" Davidson asked.
Utz replied that the county-built pager system is the redundancy: "So the redundancy from the county side is the pagers. Mhmm. So that is the redundancy built in from from our side." She invited departments to request more detailed technical information from county IT if needed.
Utz also updated the board on timing for volunteer stipends and tax-credit notifications tied to the county's processing: she said completed submissions have been reviewed by DES and "handed over to the Department of Finance and the county treasurer to then ... start making their system adjustments on the back end." She noted that distribution and tax assessment depend on state/system postings and that stipends are likely to move in mid-summer as county systems process the records.
Board members asked that DES provide schedules and advance notices to minimize service disruptions during the microwave tower work and to clarify how Active911 alerts and pagers will interact.
The report did not include a formal board vote on the microwave project; the FY26 budget and equipment allocations were reported as already approved by the county commissioners.
Looking ahead, DES said it will send updated timelines and coordinate tower work with fire and EMS departments to limit operational impacts.
