Bonner County approves $9,290.10 purchase for AT&T land mobile radio gateway to extend emergency coverage

The Bonner County Board of Commissioners on May 26 approved a $9,290.10 purchase from AT&T for a land mobile radio gateway intended to improve interoperability and extend communications coverage for emergency responders.

Sheriff Daryl Wheeler described the gateway in open session, saying the device will sit in dispatch and allow verified first responders to use a $13 per‑month AT&T mobile app as an alternative when radio coverage is poor. Wheeler said the gateway can exchange traffic across carriers (AT&T and Verizon) and will particularly help areas with usable cell signals but poor radio coverage, such as parts of the Priest Lake/Priest River area.

Wheeler told the board the county’s legacy radio system lacks redundancy and a complete rebuild could cost an estimated $10–14 million; the gateway is intended as an affordable step to fill coverage gaps while longer‑term upgrades are considered. The purchase will be charged to the county’s 911 repeater site operations communications equipment account (00824‑94101), the sheriff said.

A motion to approve payment to AT&T passed on roll call during the meeting. Board members who spoke in favor said the gateway was a cost‑effective way to address near‑term coverage gaps raised by local ambulance and EMS providers.

The sheriff indicated the sheriff’s 911 operations will control user enrollment so only verified first responders can access the app and that agencies would bear the per‑user subscription cost.