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County official describes progress on public-safety radio tower project; Motorola to provide independent consultant and test radios
Summary
A county presenter reported three identified tower sites with property-owner agreements, infrastructure coordination with Duke Energy and fiber providers, and Motorola offering an in-budget independent consultant plus ten test radios for Smart Connect testing with county fire services.
A county presenter briefed the council on the public-safety radio tower project and offered a short status update.
The presenter said all three candidate sites for the towers have been identified and property owners have agreed to the proposed locations. At one site near St. Mary-of-the-Woods, the tower will be sited on property just south of Bolton Road rather than on the college campus; another tower near Haythorn Park will be located on a caretaker’s property across the street, avoiding park land.
The presenter said Duke Energy and fiber-optic providers have visited sites and that infrastructure access should not be an obstacle. He told the council Motorola will provide resources within the project budget for an independent consultant (identified as Ritter Services in the presentation) “to help the county ensure…that the county gets what they pay for,” and that Motorola will also provide 10 radios with Smart Connect capability for testing cell coverage from Verizon and FirstNet.
Motorola’s test radios will be distributed to county fire services for coverage testing; the presenter said the county will document the results and return data to the council before deciding whether that specific technology investment is warranted.
Why it matters: The project aims to expand public-safety radio capacity across the county and the presenter said independent review and on-the-ground testing will inform final procurement and siting decisions.
Next steps: Presenter said final surveying and legal work remain to formalize site locations; the council was referred to a written report the presenter said he would file with the auditor’s office.
