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County signs MOU to move Sedgwick repeater; staff reports statewide NextGen 9-1-1 grant will cut annual 9-1-1 costs
Summary
Bannock County commissioners authorized signing an MOU to relocate emergency radio repeater equipment to the county’s Sedgwick site and received an update that a statewide NextGen 9-1-1 grant has been approved; staff estimated substantial recurring 9-1-1 savings.
Adam McKinney, chief technical officer, asked the board to sign a memorandum of understanding to relocate a fallback UHF/VHF repeater from the PSC site on Sedgwick to the county’s Sedgwick site. McKinney said the MOU has been reviewed by legal counsel and already signed by Caribou and Franklin County commissions; Bannock was asked to sign and the county was still awaiting Bear Lake County’s signature.
The MOU covers a fallback radio repeater that supports fire, search-and-rescue and other emergency communications. Commissioners moved to sign the MOU by motion and approved it by voice vote.
McKinney also briefed the board on NextGen 9-1-1. He said the Interoperability and Public Safety Communications Council (IPSCC) submitted and secured approval for a grant that will be carried by Lewis County on behalf of participating counties and PSAPs. The grant will fund NextGen core services statewide; McKinney said the county expects a contract signing within about two weeks and an installation timeline of roughly 18 months. He estimated the county could immediately realize about $150,000 per year in recurring savings on trunk-line and text-to-9-1-1 costs, and that total annual savings could approach $200,000 once other included services are counted. McKinney said the grant and contracting process have cleared state-level reviews, including the attorney general’s office and the governor’s office.
Why this matters: Moving the repeater and joining NextGen 9-1-1 affect county emergency communications capacity and recurring 9-1-1 operations costs. The NextGen grant carries both technical and budget implications: McKinney cited potential six-figure annual savings and an 18-month rollout window.
On the record: McKinney described the MOU and the technical scope as “a fallback UHF, VHF, fire and search and rescue repeater” to be moved to the county site. He said Caribou and Franklin counties have already signed the MOU and Bear Lake County is pending. Regarding NextGen, McKinney said, “We will get NextGen core services paid for through IPSCC, through the grant program,” and that it could put “about a $150,000 a year back into our 9-1-1 budget just on camera trunk lines alone, text to 911.” The board voted to sign the MOU; no separate vote was required or recorded for the NextGen grant update.
