Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Ann Arbor, MI. - Police chief backs phone charge for radios

From: NEXTEL-1
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:45:23 -0400

The Ann Arbor, MI. News
Police chief backs phone charge for radios
Council urges ballot request for $4 public safety radio charge
Tuesday, 22, 2004
BY TOM GANTERT

News Staff Reporter

Ann Arbor Police Chief Dan Oates spoke of county sheriff's deputies who
could radio for help and not be heard. He talked about city firefighters
in dense buildings who can't hear each other on the radio because of a
weak
signal.

That's why, Oates said, he thinks Ann Arbor should back a countywide
effort by public safety officials to get voters to approve a $33 million
upgrade to the emergency radio system used by police and fire personnel.
The Ann Arbor City Council agreed as it passed a resolution by a 9-1
vote, urging the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners to place a
referendum on the ballot that would pay for the improvements by adding a
$4 monthly charge to every telephone land line in the county.

Oates said the money is needed 
to replace every radio in the 
county used by various public 
safety agencies.

Oates said the city's current
radio system will no longer
be supported in five years by
their service provider,
Motorola. He said if the
county joins the Michigan
Public Safety
Communication System, it
would get a much stronger
signal and allow all the
agencies to communicate
with each other.

Washtenaw County has 29 emergency response agencies, including fire,
police, ambulance and hazardous materials.

Oates said every police and fire chief is in favor of joining the
statewide system.
That was important to Mayor John Hieftje.

"All the chiefs in police and fire are behind it," Hieftje said. "They
are unified in saying this is something we need. ... This would greatly
benefit Ann Arbor residents."

Council Member Leigh Greden, D-3rd Ward, said $4 a month wasn't a lot
considering what was at stake.
"That's a small price to pay to vastly improve our public safety," he
said.
Council Member Kim Groome, D-1st Ward, was the only one to vote against
the resolution.
Groome said she was skeptical of some numbers provided by Oates.

For instance, Oates had said the city has 450 radios used by non-public
safety workers that the ballot referendum would not cover the cost of
replacing. He said it could cost the city as much as $2 million when the
time comes to replace them.

But Groome said the city only has about 830 employees. She wondered why
so many radios are needed for non-public safety employees.

"It causes me concern about the numbers that have been run on this," she
said.
Oates said police currently use 200 radios, the fire department has 87
radios and the remaining 448 radios are used by other departments,
including parks and public works.
Oates this morning said the city plans to evaluate whether so many
radios are needed for the other city employees.

"One of the things we're going to do in the days ahead is try to use
less and save money," Oates said. "It's a significant cost, so we need
to find ways to economize."
Staff reporter Amalie Nash contributed to this report. Tom Gantert can
be reached at [email-masked] or (734) 994-6701.

© 2004 Ann Arbor News.
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1087915319214630.xml

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