Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Toledo, OH -Monroe County: Emergency radio system arrives

From: NEXTEL-1
Date: Sun, 04 Jul 2004 12:29:38 -0400

Article published July 1, 2004

Monroe County: Emergency radio system arrives

By LARRY P. VELLEQUETTE
BLADE STAFF WRITER

MONROE - The "brains" of Monroe County's new $9.3 million emergency
radio system arrived in Monroe last week wrapped in pink plastic.

Facing a Sept. 30 deadline to finish assembling their creation, local
officials are already resigned to having to ask the federal government
for more time to breathe life into one of the biggest public safety
projects in local history.
"We didn't know the scope of the environmental assessments that would
have to be done, and neither did [the Federal Emergency Management
Agency]," explained sheriff's Sgt. David Thompson, who has overseen much
of the year-long project.

Monroe County received a $6 million federal grant from the Department of
Homeland Security in late 2003 to help the county upgrade its
50-year-old analog radio system.

The grant will pay about two-thirds of the cost to put county
firefighters and law enforcement officers onto the 800-megahertz
statewide communications system operated by the Michigan State Police.

The terms of that grant stipulate that the project must be completed by
the end of the federal fiscal year, when ends Sept. 30, or the county
risks forfeiting the money.

But Sergeant Thompson said extensive federal environmental assessments
required to build three new communications towers - one each in Berlin,
Whiteford, and Monroe townships - hadn't been factored into the county's
initial timeline for the project.
"The folks at FEMA weren't aware that we needed them either," when the
grant was awarded, Sergeant Thompson said. Consequently, the assessments
and a required posting for public comment has put a crimp in the
schedule.
"If everything goes correctly, we should be doing tower construction by
the end of July, at least on the first site," in Berlin Township,
Sergeant Thompson said.

If an extension from the Department of Homeland Security Ifis needed,
the groundwork has been laid for a quick decision.
"We've already talked to [the federal government] about it, and they
know it might be coming," Sergeant Thompson said.
About $1.8 million in computer networking equipment, Global Positioning
System hardware, software, and huge banks of batteries arrived in the
rear of a tractor-trailer rig from Motorola's headquarters in suburban
Chicago.
It joined about 800 portable and base radios - the first batch of which
are in Lansing being programmed - already delivered to the county from
Motorola, county purchasing director Mike Bosanac said.

Mr. Bosanac and other county officials spent several days last month in
Schaumburg, Ill., training and "live-testing" the equipment that was
delivered last week, and tying it into the state's communications
system.
Mr. Bosanac said that the project, which has grown slightly from initial
estimates to include a replacement for the aging VHF paging system for
volunteer firefighters, remains on budget.

That could prove vital next month when voters in the August primary are
asked to pay $1.60 a month per telephone line for five years. A yes vote
will enable the county to pay off a $3.3 million loan it borrowed to
cover its share of the $9.3 million project.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040701/NEWS17/407010331/-1/NEWS

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