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 signed contract by the end of 2025 and that waiting until 2026 could raise the cost by a conservatively estimated $1.3 million.

Jeff Fox of the Vigo County Sheriff's Office, who has worked on emergency communications locally for more than two decades, told the committee the county supplements the state-run 800 MHz system and that portable-radio performance is the county's primary benchmark. "The milestone that we use is 95% reliability with a portable radio inside a building," Fox said. He and Dalton said the committee selected sites to maximize population coverage and call volume and that, where possible, site property could be donated or provided at no acquisition cost (examples discussed included a county-owned park parcel, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, a city fire station and township-owned fire station property).

Fox said procurement could proceed without a county bid process because the purchase would be made off the state QPA contract. He recommended staging appropriations and contract milestones so equipment deliveries and payments align with construction, arguing the county should avoid paying for equipment that would sit in vendor warehouses while towers are built. "We'd like to have the support and the ability to sign that contract so we can take advantage" of the 2025 pricing, Fox said, while acknowledging legal and budget details would need closer review.

Commissioners and council members pressed staff on funding sources and timing. Committee members noted current PSAP balances discussed in the meeting (staff referenced figures in the neighborhood of $5.5'5.8 million and projected $7 million by 2027) and raised concerns that the PSAP fund alone could not cover the full purchase. Several officials recommended exploring a multi-year funding strategy, including spreading appropriation across multiple funds and years and developing a financing plan with Motorola.

The committee agreed to place the item on the December meeting agenda so commissioners and council members can review contract details and fund forecasts before a final decision; staff said Motorola had repeatedly offered to work on financing terms, including delayed payments and leasing structures.

Next steps noted in the meeting: staff will provide the committee with the general proposal and a suggested milestone/appropriation schedule; the item is expected to return to the council's December agenda so the county can determine whether to sign a contract by the vendor's deadline.