Larimer 911 authority says 11‑year fiber project closes Estes Park isolation, adds redundancy for alerts and dispatch

Kimberly Culp, chief executive officer of the Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority (LITA), told the Larimer County Board of County Commissioners on July 14 that the authority has completed an 11‑year effort to build a ringed fiber connection to Estes Park and has added several operational redundancies to strengthen 911 services across Larimer and Jackson counties.

Culp said the new ring removes a long‑standing single‑path vulnerability to Estes Park that had left the mountain community isolated during past fires and fiber outages. "So an 11 year project, but we're done, and we've removed that isolation incident and that risk from Estes Park," she said, noting the link combines leases on Colorado Department of Transportation fiber and commercial partners to create a continuous route from Estes Park to Longmont.

Why it matters: commissioners and the public would face longer outages and reduced situational awareness without the upgrade. Culp described three operational improvements that reduce those risks: a video‑to‑911 program that lets callers opt in to send live video or photos to dispatch; a regional purchase and lease of new radio consoles purchased at scale to capture vendor discounts and managed via an intergovernmental agreement with Larimer County; and a redundant, end‑to‑end emergency alert pathway implemented after a widely reported compromise of another alert system.

Culp said the video feature has been used hundreds of times in dispatch to show fires and other incidents to first responders, and that dispatchers can blur video for caller safety and conference video to field crews. She described language and accessibility features that automatically detect a phone's language settings and deliver translated text or braille‑compatible output for dispatchers.

On alerts and cybersecurity, Culp described two separate incidents that drove change: a publicized compromise of a vendor used by some jurisdictions and a denial‑of‑service outage affecting Everbridge on June 26. "We had our backup system live and active and ready to go as of April 1," she said, reporting tests during the Everbridge outage confirmed the redundant system worked. LITA is sharing the redundancy model with state homeland security and FEMA to encourage similar protections statewide.

Commissioners pressed for practical details. Commissioner Kristen Stevens praised the accessibility work and asked to share LITA's model at a national county conference. Commissioner John Gefalas asked about Starlink/direct‑to‑satellite mobile coverage and whether satellite connectivity adds user fees; Culp said carriers have included satellite connectivity in base plans so callers using the service should not see extra charges for 911 calls. Commissioners also asked about how the radio and console upgrades will improve communications across jurisdictions; Culp said standardizing console equipment and using the county radio shop for maintenance will lower costs and reduce equipment age disparities across centers.

The presentation also flagged rising costs for core connectivity: Culp said CenturyLink tariffs for 911 connections have increased significantly over recent years and that authorities are evaluating legislative and regulatory approaches to encourage competition and limit tariff impacts.

The board thanked Culp and LITA for the partnerships and implementation work. Chair Jody Shai McNally said the projects give county leaders greater confidence in continuity of emergency communications for rural canyon communities and mountain towns.

What’s next: Culp said LITA will present its redundant alert model to the state homeland security office and FEMA in coming weeks and continue implementation of regional console upgrades and accessibility features.