Board hears $343,000 dispatch‑console estimate as county weighs 9‑1‑1 infrastructure upgrades

A county director described the radio system upgrades staff say are necessary to support recently purchased field radios and to restore lost tracking features. He summarized that the dispatch console — the interface used by 9‑1‑1 operators to manage calls and radio channels — would cost about $343,000 to replace. “The biggest thing, like, right now that I see the dispatch consoles themselves is $343,000. That's basically the interface how they can talk to everybody in the field,” the director said (Director).

Commissioners expressed concern about cumulative spending on radios and back‑end infrastructure, with one commissioner saying: “I just have a hard time believing we need another $830,000 worth of radio equipment,” and several members requested an independent audit or vendor scope that lays out what currently works together and what does not. Staff proposed a phased plan — towers and repeaters first, then core servers and consoles — and agreed to prepare standardized, apples‑to‑apples bids and to look for grant options (including NextGen funding) to offset costs.