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Sawyer County updates radio project timeline; structural fixes and a possible $250,000 county tower are on the table
Summary
County staff and Gencom reported that engineering for the Sawyer County radio upgrade is largely done but that structural analyses found ice‑loading failures on some towers; options include relatively modest bracing paid by carriers or a county‑funded tower that would add about $250,000 and could delay full coverage until a later phase.
County staff and a Gencom representative told the Sawyer County Public Safety Committee that the countywide public‑safety radio upgrade is moving toward construction this summer but faces site‑by‑site structural issues that could change cost and timing.
"The radio project is going along," said Gary Pelletier of Gencom, who briefed the committee on engineering and site work. He said most engineering is complete but that some existing towers fail a current 1.5‑inch ice‑loading standard (the older specification measured half‑inch). That change means sites such as the Pipestone and the WOJB‑associated towers will need either equipment reductions, structural bracing, or replacement to meet the new standard.
Why it matters: the radio network is the county’s backbone for sheriff, emergency medical services and local partners; how the county resolves tower loading issues will affect whether the county pays more up front or whether carriers such as T‑Mobile fund needed upgrades in exchange for collocation.
Pelletier said bracing has been used previously on similar towers and estimated the work could range into the tens of thousands of dollars on an individual tower, commonly “under $50,000,” with typical bracing examples discussed in the meeting on the order of $20,000–$35,000. He said the county will ask carriers interested in collocation to contribute; if a carrier elects to join a site, it may be appropriate for that company to pay for the modifications that enable its equipment to be installed.
The committee discussed a specific coverage gap in the county’s south‑central area where a privately planned Meadowbrook (sometimes transcribed Meadowbrook/Metalbrook) tower has zoning approval but has not been built. Pelletier said the county can proceed without that third party tower, but doing so will create an outdoor coverage hole; to avoid that hole the county could temporarily site equipment at the Winter water tower or, alternatively, build a county‑owned tower in that area, which he estimated would add roughly $250,000 to the overall project cost.
Other updates: the Draper tower has been procured and equipment and shelters are staged; the Hayward Nyland water tower will be used to improve in‑building coverage in Hayward; engineering drawings and a memoranda of understanding are in progress for co‑location at the Flambeau state tower and for an MOU with WOJB. Pelletier told the committee the project team is holding bi‑weekly planning meetings with the sheriff and expects to be "live" on the new radio system this summer, while noting some site decisions depend on third‑party tower construction or payment agreements.
What’s next: staff will return to the committee with firm bracing cost estimates and any carrier cost‑sharing commitments. The committee scheduled the towers update for the May 7 meeting.
Quote: "We are getting close," Pelletier said, describing progress on engineering and site readiness.
Provenance: committee briefing and discussion on tower engineering, bracing costs and site options (SEG 274–SEG 655).
