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Daniels County advances public‑safety radio upgrade; tower move and microwave link discussed
Summary
Motorola, RedTail and state officials led a customer design review with Daniels County commissioners about replacing dispatch consoles and adding microwave backhaul. County and partners discussed tower relocation, equipment spares, training and a tentative May–June cutover; Yellowstone County is due to consider a tower transfer Nov. 12.
Motorola Solutions and partner RedTail presented a customer design review to the Daniels County Commission on Oct. 21 outlining plans to replace the county’s legacy dispatch consoles with two MCC 7500e consoles, install a new logging recorder and equipment rack, and add microwave backhaul to tie the county into the Statewide Public Safety Communications network.
Connie Cummings, Motorola’s project manager, opened the presentation and said the team would email final design documents and asked the county to sign off on Motorola equipment so the vendor could place orders. "We will email this out in PDF format and if there are corrections we'll update the document," she said during the meeting. RedTail’s field representative, Brian Mayus, said his team will be the primary boots‑on‑the‑ground contractor to support local installation and integration with the county’s dispatch center.
The group described a plan to reuse Daniels County’s existing RF sites while tying into state trunking for broader coverage. Mike Filman, manager for the Statewide Public Safety Communications System, said the project requires a microwave link and a tower solution; the plan discussed moving a 150‑foot self‑supporting tower from a Yellowstone County site. Filman said Yellowstone County commissioners will consider the decommissioning/transfer on Nov. 12, after which cost estimates for decommissioning, transport and reinstallation should be available.
Commissioners and staff pressed for technical details the county needs to act on now — including tower‑pad dimensions, power and foundation requirements, and an equipment list for procurement. Motorola agreed to provide tower foundation specs and to follow up on spare‑parts lists. The team also proposed a migration approach that emphasizes parallel testing to minimize operational interruption and offered operator and supervisor training at no additional cost.
The presentation included an implementation timeline the vendors described as contingent on state‑supplied microwave equipment and seasonal constraints; the vendors listed an optimistic final acceptance window around May–June but flagged that equipment lead times and weather could move that date.
Next steps: Motorola/RedTail will send the county a finalized equipment list, power and pad dimensions, and a proposed training schedule; the county will await the Yellowstone County decision on Nov. 12 regarding the tower transfer before committing to microwave procurement or final installation dates.
Why it matters: The upgrade would modernize Daniels County’s dispatch consoles and connect the county to the statewide trunking system, which the presenters said will improve coverage and interoperability for law enforcement, EMS and fire responders across long transport routes.
