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Emergency management seeks $50,000 radio maintenance fund as volunteer fire call volumes grow
Summary
Lubbock County emergency management presented increases for contracted volunteer fire services and asked the court to approve routine and emergency maintenance funding for the county VHF/public‑safety simulcast radio system after a year of rising calls and recent timing/clock failures.
Clinton Tetrick, Lubbock County Emergency Management coordinator, told the Commissioners Court that volunteer fire calls in some parts of the county have risen and that the county’s annual contracted support for volunteer fire and rescue services will increase by $41,945 this year, driven primarily by growth in the Woodrow Volunteer Fire Department’s call volume.
Tetrick said department allocations are calculated using a five‑year average of past activity and that the emergency management office and several chiefs reviewed the numbers before submission. He urged the court to consider additional maintenance funding for the county’s VHF simulcast public‑safety radio system, which is roughly seven years old and has begun to experience equipment failures.
Why it matters: Volunteer fire departments rely on the county radio backbone for paging and inter‑agency communication. Failures of timing devices and microwave links can introduce interference across repeaters and reduce effective coverage; the county recently repaired several antenna and timing issues, but Tetrick said more preventive maintenance is needed to avoid repeat outages.
Specific requests and technical details - Contracted fire and rescue line item: +$41,945, mainly reflecting Woodrow VFD’s increased calls. - Proposed maintenance funding for the county radio system: $10,000 for routine maintenance (batteries, checks, minor onsite work) and $40,000 for emergency repairs, including tower climber work — total $50,000 proposed this year. - Repair economics cited: GPS net clock repairs were quoted at about $6,000 each; replacement GPS clocks at about $22,000 each. Tetrick said two clocks already required repair and a third had been identified. - System architecture: County operates a VHF simulcast system that uses multiple transmitters with tightly synchronized timing; misaligned timing can cause repeaters to interfere with one another. The system uses county‑owned and partner‑hosted tower sites and city radio‑shop support for microwave and core tasks.
Debate and preferred approach Commissioner Dolby suggested doubling the routine maintenance line and reducing the dedicated emergency allocation, then drawing on the county general contingency for larger, unexpected replacements. Commissioner Dawley expressed concern about losing a dedicated pot of funds for radio maintenance and argued for earmarking money specifically for the county radio system. Tetrick recommended routine maintenance be funded to reduce the probability and cost of emergency repairs.
Ending and next steps Court members asked staff to review existing city/county radio maintenance agreements and contracts (including who is responsible for microwave links and routine PMs), confirm the status of any perpetual agreements, and return with clearer documentary responsibilities and more precise cost estimates. Tetrick said he would follow up with the sheriff’s office and city radio shop to clarify contracting and maintenance responsibilities.
