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Commissioners question 911 radio coverage after ARPA-funded purchases; tower costs unclear
Summary
Commissioners discussed that radios purchased with ARPA funds may not function fully because supporting radio towers were not funded or sited; commissioners said testing showed patchy coverage and called for more finance and legal oversight of past 911 board decisions.
Commissioners raised concerns that radios the county bought with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds are not delivering full coverage because necessary towers were not funded or sited.
Speaker 3 asked whether the ARPA-funded radios were working and observed, "when they got these radios with ARPA money, all the radios they bought. Am I understanding that they don't work because there's not towers to accommodate that?" A respondent in the transcript answered, "They didn't even think about it. No," and another said the radios work in "certain areas" but not countywide.
Commissioners said the 9-1-1 board's past decisions contributed to current coverage gaps. Speaker 2 said, "I think there needs to be a lot more discussion instead of us just willy nilly... that's exactly what happened, you know, why they need the finance and legal involved in all these decisions. That 9-1-1 board made some bad decisions." The transcript indicates testing of coverage was performed but does not provide technical test results or cost estimates for tower construction.
Participants discussed that adding a tower would improve but not eliminate all coverage problems: "And even if we get this tower, it's not gonna take everything good," one speaker said. Commissioners asked for clearer estimates of how much coverage would improve and for detailed cost information; those figures were not provided in the excerpt.
No formal action, appropriation or vote on tower construction or additional funding was recorded in the transcript excerpt. Commissioners called for further discussion and involvement of finance and legal staff before committing funds.
