Dispatch center to expand radio network to five towers for countywide coverage

An unidentified speaker at a recent commission meeting said the dispatch center's radio consoles are being replaced and that the county's radio network will expand from one tower at the 9-1-1 center to five towers to improve coverage. "The new system will incorporate 5 towers," the speaker said, adding the change is intended so "these handheld radios should work anywhere in the county."

The speaker set a performance target tied to the national standard for first-responder radio reliability, saying the radios should be "above a 95% reliability, which is what the national standard is." They said the upgrade includes replacement of all in-center consoles as well as equipment deployed outside the center.

When asked about outdoor installations, the speaker described the planned field sites. "At every location, there will be a shelter that will house some of the radio equipment. There's a generator there, and there's also a fuel source," they said, explaining that those elements are intended to keep the network operating during natural disasters. The speaker added that if one site is lost because of a tornado, fire or other event, "the other sites will continue to operate, independently of that."

The transcript does not include a construction schedule, cost figures, specific vendor names, nor a formal motion or vote authorizing the work. Those details and any implementation timeline were not provided in the recorded remarks.