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Public Safety Committee approves plan to fund radio reprogramming for emergency subscribers
Summary
The committee approved proceeding with a plan to reprogram subscriber radios as part of the county's radio tower project, authorizing use of previously set‑aside funds from the tower borrowing to support reprogramming and related subscriber needs.
The Richland County Public Safety Committee on Sept. 5 voted to proceed with a plan to support subscriber agencies that must reprogram radios as part of the county’s radio tower project.
The committee approved the plan on a motion by Supervisor Julie Fleming, seconded by Supervisor Frank. The administrator told the committee the costliest need reported by agencies so far is reprogramming existing radios rather than wholesale equipment replacement and asked for approval to use funds already set aside in the tower project borrowing to support that work.
Committee members were told several technical and procurement items remain outstanding: GenComm is working to secure the final two frequencies needed for an FCC license; combiners have shipped and were expected mid‑month; microwave equipment is being manufactured for shipment in September; and civil work at the Yuba tower site required extra work and will generate change orders. The administrator said one human‑resources change order exceeded $250,000 and that a GenComm change order is forthcoming.
The administrator said the county is requesting quotes from subscriber agencies’ radio service providers so officials can determine the total reprogramming cost. “A lot of the different agencies have the radios they need, they just have to have every single one reprogrammed,” the administrator said. The committee approved continuing with the administrator’s outreach and using the tower project funds to help cover reprogramming costs, with county staff to return with consolidated quotes and a final budget request as details are confirmed.
Members emphasized the need for all subscriber agencies to respond with quotes so the county can finalize the expense estimate and any additional funding request to the full county board if necessary.
