Sawyer County approves $2.83 million budget commitment for public-safety radio upgrade

The Sawyer County Board of Supervisors voted to approve budgeting and financing for a public-safety radio system upgrade, committing to a project budget of $2,825,000 and to finance the work through debt issuance.

County staff presented an updated proposal from GenComm showing the equipment and site plan largely match an earlier estimate; the firm and staff projected six to seven tower sites, with only one new tower expected to be built in the Draper area and other sites to be leased. Staff said microwave backhaul is planned for the initial deployment and that fiber connections would be a later option.

Why it matters: County officials said the project is intended to improve radio coverage in parts of Sawyer County that remain difficult to reach, and to consolidate equipment on leased and existing towers to contain costs. Finance staff modeled debt-service scenarios and projected the levy impact for homeowners under conservative growth assumptions.

County staff summarized financing options and two repayment scenarios. Finance Director Mike (first name only in transcript) ran a conservative TID-growth scenario that, he said, "comes out to about a 5¢ levy per thousand," which he illustrated as roughly $1520to2017 per year on a $300,000 property under that low-growth assumption. An alternate repayment profile that reduces near-term payments and raises them later would produce lower payments initially (about $13 per $300,000) but jump to roughly $2829 per $300,000 in later years, the finance presentation showed.

Discussion included logistics for tower siting and permitting, the use of leased towers at Meadowbrook, Edgewater and the WOJB site, and the possibility of adding the Flambeau Correctional Facility site to improve coverage in the county's southeast corner. Staff noted much of the hardware will be installed over the coming year and that tower construction is likely to occur the following year after permitting.

Motion and outcome: Supervisor Mark Helwig moved to approve budgeting and financing for the public-safety radio system improvements; Supervisor Jeff Haney seconded. The board approved the motion by voice vote. The transcript records the motion and approval but does not give a roll-call tally.

Next steps: Staff will finalize a contract with GenComm consistent with the approved $2.825 million project budget and return to the board with debt-issuance timing and final finance terms when those details are ready.