Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Emergency Communications topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Meriwether County officials discuss $343,000 dispatch consoles and larger 9-1-1 radio infrastructure upgrades
Summary
Public-safety staff said existing handheld radios need back-end core and console upgrades; staff identified $343,000 for six new dispatch consoles and described a phased plan to build local core servers and additional towers. Commissioners asked for an independent audit and phased cost estimates.
County public-safety staff and commissioners spent much of the May 11 work session on a multi-part upgrade of the county’s 9-1-1 and radio infrastructure, saying handheld radios already purchased require additional back-end components before they function fully.
An agency official described how the current configuration routes radio cores out of Tallahassee and how latency and disconnections can occur when the remote link is interrupted; he said placing a core locally at the 9-1-1 center would improve resiliency and speed. "What we're wanting to do here and we need to do at some point is we need to bring the core here," he said, explaining the server would sit at the 9-1 center.
Staff identified an immediate need to upgrade dispatch consoles. The official said six consoles are needed and provided a figure of $343,000 for the consoles themselves; he said additional functions (tracking, trainee stations and exact integrated features) would be phased. Commissioners and staff discussed tower propagation and repeaters for Forest Road, Greenville/PSC and Orange Springs towers and noted the system will require phased funding and coordination with vendor and tower partners.
Several commissioners asked for an independent technical assessment before committing large capital sums. One commissioner asked: "Is there a company that comes in and looks at the infrastructure of a 9-1-1 system, says here's what you have that works together, here's what you have that doesn't work together, and here is what you need?" Staff answered that a scope of work can be prepared and a specialist engaged.
Why it matters: staff said the handheld radios offer advanced features (location, emergency activation) that the county cannot fully use until consoles and the local core are in place; the consoles and infrastructure affect responder safety and 9-1-1 operator capacity.
Next steps: staff was asked to draft a scope for an independent assessment, prepare phased cost estimates and return to the board with clear apples-to-apples quotes and a proposed implementation schedule. No procurement or appropriation was approved on May 11.
