Grand Forks County approves purchase and budget amendment for highway radio replacement

Grand Forks County Commission approved a plan to replace the county highway department’s two-way radio system and amended the 2025 Highway Distribution Fund to cover the local share.

County Highway Department staff told commissioners their existing analog system will stop working within the next one to two years and that failure to upgrade would leave the department without a functioning radio system. “If we don't upgrade, we won't have a radio system,” the staff member said. The staff provided a vendor quote that lists material costs at about $99,588 and estimated total county out-of-pocket cost, after an expected State of North Dakota reimbursement, at roughly $50,088.24 including installation.

The department proposed a 38‑unit core fleet — radios for plow trucks and heavy equipment and four handhelds for flexibility — rather than replacing every legacy unit in the inventory. The staff said the county currently owns about 94 radios (including spares and broken units) but expects the core fleet would be smaller than that count. The replacement quote was from Stones Mobile Radio; the staff said installation could largely be handled by county mechanics but Stones Mobile Radio offered full installation for about $7,500 if needed.

Because the materials were not budgeted, the commission also approved a budget amendment of $50,100 to the 2150 Highway Distribution Fund for 2025 so the purchase can proceed and the county can submit invoices to the State of North Dakota for the $57,000 reimbursement the staff said is available if the county acts before a March deadline.

Commissioners moved and seconded the combined approval of the radio purchase and the budget amendment and the motions carried with commissioners present voting in favor.

The staff emphasized the decision was driven in part by a limited-time state reimbursement and an announced vendor price increase on January 1. The staff said the upgrade would also give the county its own channel instead of sharing channels with school districts and others, which staff said will reduce competing radio traffic.

The commission did not specify a vendor contract award at the meeting; the action authorized purchase and budget amendment so the highway department can proceed with ordering equipment and pursuing reimbursement.

Questions raised during the discussion addressed inventory counts, the proposed core fleet size, installation responsibilities, and which line items in the highway fund would be reduced to cover the overrun. The staff said they would manage the department budget and under-run other line items as needed to cover the temporary shortfall.

The commission instructed staff to proceed; no further timeline for delivery beyond the vendor lead times and the reimbursement deadline was given at the meeting.