Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Emergency Communications topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County staff outline emergency communications upgrades, exercises and fair support
Summary
County staff told commissioners they are restarting amateur radio emergency communications, buying four radios (Kenwood cited as roughly $10,000 cheaper than an alternative), planning an LAPC decontamination exercise and preparing command-post support for the county fair.
County staff gave commissioners an update on emergency communications, equipment purchases and preparations for the upcoming county fair during the Aug. 13 Morrow County Board of Commissioners meeting.
A staff member identified as Mike invited commissioners to an Amish Health and Safety Day on Sept. 10 at Owl Creek and said the county is partnering with Richland and Knox counties for the event. Mike said volunteers are helping with public-safety outreach and that the county is re-engaging amateur radio operators to restore emergency communications capabilities.
Mike told the board that two rural weather radios installed at a development serving people with disabilities were not receiving alerts and that radio antennas would be installed on roofs to correct reception. He also said the county is preparing its command post for the fair and plans to service hydraulics and the generator so the unit is operational.
On communications procurement, Mike said the county is purchasing four radios and that Kenwood units sourced from a vendor (Basau/Basu in the transcript) were about $10,000 cheaper than Motorola alternatives. "The Kenwood radios from Basu were $10,000 cheaper than the Motorola radios," he said. He described the next steps: programming the radios on the county dispatch system and arranging delivery to staff.
Staff also said the county is tentatively planning an LAPC exercise on Oct. 2 to test a newly purchased decontamination tent and the county decontamination trailer, with hospital participation.
These were presented as operational updates and planning items; no formal policy changes or contested decisions were recorded.
