Lake County accepts DHS-funded Starlink terminal and 12 months of roaming service for incident communications

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners unanimously accepted a Department of Homeland Security grant that will provide a Starlink satellite terminal and up to 12 months of Starlink roaming service to support emergency communications, Claire Hathaway, director of the Office of Emergency Management, told commissioners.

Hathaway described the grant as a federal pass-through that is managed by the South Central All-Hazards Region; the City of Colorado Springs serves as the regional fiscal agent and handles procurement. "This grant's a little bit of an interesting one," Hathaway said, noting that the regional communications working group requested the equipment because some tactical cameras and devices fail when local cell service is unavailable. She told the board the project supplies each county in the region with a Starlink terminal and up to 12 months of roaming service, usable month-by-month and chargeable only for months activated.

Hathaway said the region received the hardware in March and that the county will need to test the Starlink terminal for compatibility with the county dispatch and firewall configuration. "Now I really wanna manage that…making sure that it's compatible with our different areas," Hathaway said, describing prior incidents where temporary internet needs during events required external solutions. She added that the grant will reimburse up to 12 months of service through the grant closeout in May 2027 and that any service months activated are charged by calendar month.

Commissioners approved acceptance of the grant on a unanimous voice vote. Following the vote, commissioners directed OEM and IT staff to perform setup and testing with airport and dispatch staff, verify firewall and interoperability with local systems, and submit a short test report back to the board with recommended activation procedures and an estimate of ongoing costs after the grant period.

County staff said the long-term monthly roaming cost is expected to be small (Hathaway said it was approximately $1.65 per month in staff discussion), and that any ongoing cost would likely be budgeted in OEM for 2026 and beyond. Hathaway noted the service can be turned on and off by the county on a monthly basis and that experimentation/testing months will count against the 12-month grant allocation, so the county will schedule tests to limit consumption.

Commissioners asked for a follow-up test report documenting time to activate, typical network performance and any firewall or dispatch compatibility issues before routine operational use.

Ending: OEM will coordinate a Starlink setup and test with IT, airport staff and the City of Colorado Springs procurement staff and report back to the board by the end of May.