Vigo County public-safety leaders urge council to sign $8.5 million Motorola contract to fix coverage gaps

Scott Dalton, a battalion chief and chair of Vigo County's 911 advisory committee, told the Budget Committee that increasing call volumes and development have revealed serious communications gaps across eastern and western parts of the county, including in Blackhawk, Lewis, Riley, Prairie Creek and other towns. "When they try to communicate an emergency message ... they get the notorious bonk," Dalton said, describing situations in which radios do not transmit while responders are on scene.

The committee's proposed solution is to relocate the existing Vigo Tower and add three new tower sites to improve coverage and capacity. Dalton said Motorola offered incentives and pricing discounts that reduced a ten-month period of price increases and produced a project estimate of $8,499,000. He said those incentives require a…