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Richland County committee discusses long-term costs, staffing for nine-site radio tower network
Summary
Committee members reviewed progress on the county radio tower project and began planning for subscriber equipment distribution and an annual maintenance budget estimated at $100,000–$200,000 a year, with questions about lease, frequency coordination and who will budget for ongoing work.
Members of the Richland County Public Safety Standing Committee on May 2 discussed next steps for the county’s radio tower project, focusing on how to fund subscriber radios and the ongoing maintenance of a planned nine-site network.
Committee members said most tower hardware is staged and that one remaining lease (Yuba site) may be signed in coming weeks, which would allow crews to begin site climbs and equipment installation. The discussion centered on how to allocate borrowed project money to buy radios for fire, EMS and other subscriber agencies, and how to create a recurring maintenance fund so the system remains operable after construction.
The committee heard that staff from the highway and MIS departments will draft criteria for distributing radios and for cost sharing. “We’re gonna talk with Mike Day … find out what their needs are. We’re also gonna go over the budget on that day, look at how much do we actually have to provide, and then hopefully next month come back with a plan,” said Jason (staff member), describing meetings scheduled to survey neighboring agencies’ equipment needs and produce a purchase/distribution plan.
Committee members raised concerns that older radios should be inspected and that distribution should not become an open request-for-equipment without technical vetting. One participant said the general communications group would inspect radios to determine which are “workable” and which need replacement before county funds are spent.
On maintenance funding, staff described early cost estimates and items that will require recurring attention: lease payments, generator maintenance, batteries, remote monitoring, site compound upkeep, server replacements and possible staffing. “We can’t get $8,100,000 of equipment and not have anybody able to maintain that,” a committee member said. County staff estimated annual maintenance and staffing costs in a broad range from $100,000 to $200,000.
Officials discussed options for where to hold remaining borrowed funds and whether those funds must be spent by a deadline. Derek (staff member) was asked to check whether leftover borrowed funds could be placed into the general fund for rollover rather than expended by a fixed date. Staff also said they are considering whether to add a position in MIS or another department to provide technical maintenance, or to contract for maintenance and remote monitoring.
Leasing tower space to outside parties was proposed as a potential revenue source but committee members emphasized not to “bank on” that revenue for core maintenance budgeting. Staff also raised frequency-coordination issues with neighboring agencies that have slowed parts of the rollout.
The committee agreed staff will return with a more detailed plan and budget figures next month, including the subscriber-equipment criteria, inspection results and clearer cost estimates for recurring maintenance.
