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Richland County receives PSAP grant, tower team outlines December testing and January cut-over
Summary
County staff said they received a PSAP award under NG911 funding and the radio/tower vendor expects civil work nearly complete, network testing in mid-December, and a projected system cut-over in January; microwave equipment shipment delays were noted.
County staff updated the Richland County Public Safety Standing Committee on NG911 and radio infrastructure progress, reporting a PSAP grant award and a multi-agency timeline for testing and cut-over.
Sheriff (speaker 4) confirmed the county received a PSAP award under the PCAP NG911 program, announced the award the day prior, and said planning will begin for dispatch furniture and other equipment purchases. He also said the GIS grant tied to NG911 is under revision and staff should be prepared for an expected release by the start of the year.
Radio/tower representative (speaker 8) gave a construction and implementation timeline: site civil work should finish in a few weeks; GenComm and tower crews plan antenna and microwave installation; programming and reconfiguration of agency radios is scheduled for early December; network configuration and testing were planned for mid-December with a target of a fully working system on Dec. 31 and cut-over in January. "In December, we'll focus on reprogramming all of the supporting or the different agencies program, radios...start testing the network on December 15, have a fully working system on December 31, and then work on the cut over on January," the representative said.
The representative noted a supply issue: microwave equipment had not shipped as of the update, which could affect timing for some channels; staff also noted that a federal government shutdown affecting FCC approvals could delay use of some new channels even if physical work is complete.
The county stated the state awarded "a $69,762" sum (representative phrased it as "just under 70") for the PSAP portion. The committee discussed placing the county on an operational channel in mid-December to monitor performance before full cut-over.
Committee members asked about channel assignment, upfitting and testing procedures; staff said they will coordinate with outfitters and participating agencies to mitigate disruption during the transition.
