Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Westmoreland- PA: County's switch to new radio system will be delayed

From: NEXTEL-1
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 01:54:04 -0400

Westmoreland- PA: County's switch to new radio system will be delayed
By Bob Stiles
For the Daily Courier
Tuesday, June 22, 2004

GREENSBURG -- Westmoreland County's switch to an 800-megahertz radio
system will be delayed.
The postponement from the original July startup date to later this year
was caused primarily by legal issues related to a few communication
towers needed for the new high-band radio system, county officials said.

"September is our target date to be 100 percent live," county
Commissioner Tom Balya said Monday.
One legal issue involved a right of way for a tower, Balya said. Another
involved a deed. A third stemmed from a review of a tower location by
the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Balya said he expects the issues to be resolved soon enough to keep the
September startup date.

The switch to high-band frequencies is designed to improve
communications between dispatchers and emergency first-responders. It
also is intended to improve communications among workers at an emergency
or crime scene.
"In Westmoreland County, you'll have a common frequency for everybody,"
said Dan Stevens, spokesman for the county public safety department. "We
need everybody working together."

The county also is looking to test sections of the nearly $19 million
system in July. That testing will help determine if equipment needs are
met and if there are any "dead spots," Stevens said.

A later test will likely examine the areas currently without completed
towers.
About 25 communications towers are planned, county officials said.

Strapped for cash, fire companies and others had been concerned about
having to contribute to the purchase of equipment to use the new system.

A grant of nearly $6 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security helped to allay their concerns, Stevens said. The county also
was bolstered by a federal grant for about $1.3 million through U.S.
Rep. John Murtha, of Johnstown, Cambria County.

The county paid the remaining $12 million of the overall price tag
through a bond issue, Stevens said.

Plans are to supply a radio for every fire truck, police car and
ambulance in the county through the grant funding, Stevens said. Up to
five portable radios also will be distributed to the same emergency
groups. Officials are in the process of setting up base stations.

The equipment being supplied should be enough for a solid beginning for
the emergency groups, Stevens said.
"It definitely gives them a heck of a start," he said.

Balya said he also believes many of the emergency responders' past
concerns were eased.
"With the grants, we were able to provide them with even more radios,"
he said.
Barry Elder, chief of Midway-St. Clair Volunteer Department in Hempfield
Township, said the federal grants seemed to solve many of the former
concerns.

"As far as I know, there's no additional costs to the fire departments,"
he said. "We should be in good shape."
Bill Hobaugh, Harrison City fire chief, said he believed the concerns of
most of the fire departments in the county were eased.
"Right now, most everybody's happy," said Hobaugh, who was involved with
a county-related committee looking into the change to the high-band
system.

Wayne Radebaugh, North Hempfield fire chief, said the grant money helped
fire companies.
"It's definitely helped us," he said. "There's still going to be some
costs we'll have to put into it. But (the grant funding) helped out
quite a bit."

Fire chiefs said they knew of a few emergency responders who continued
to have worries about whether the new system would meet their full
communication needs.

"I feel, once the system's done, once it's up and running, compared to
the (current) system ... we are definitely going to be a heck of a lot
better off," Hobaugh said.

The new radio system can be expanded to have capabilities for a
700-megahertz frequency, Stevens said.
"We can't wait. We're excited. This is a very big opportunity for our
county to put everyone on our frequencies," he said.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/news/s_199966.html

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