Consultant will look at county radio communications

Taylor County will hire a Minnesota-based consultant to look at options for upgrading the county’s emergency radio system.

At the January 16 county finance committee meeting, members approved hiring a consultant at a cost not to exceed $36,000.

Sheriff Corey Dassow brought the proposal to the finance committee explaining that while the county used ARPA grant funds to upgrade the handheld and portable radio units to new ones, the base station and equipment on the towers dates from 2013 and is at the end of its life. He said they are currently on the state WISCOM system which is a VHF system. The state is projecting to have a new system in place the next five to seven years which would be in the 700 to 800 megahertz range.

The topography and mineral composition of Taylor County impacts radio communications with numerous known “dead spots” around the county. The equipment serves as the communication infrastructure for not just law enforcement but for the highway department and emergency agencies such as fire and ambulance.

Dassow said he had reached out to the consultant because they had come highly recommended when he asked other sheriffs around the state who had gone through radio system upgrades. The desire was to have someone who was not connected to an equipment manufacturer or retailer to provide an unbiased report as to the pros and cons of staying with the state system or going to something else. Any of the existing radios have the capability to be used on either WISCOM or other systems.

The money for the study will come in part from the radio repair and maintenance budget for the sheriff’s department. Of the $60,000 budgeted in that account last year, about $47,000 was spent.

Committee member Mike Bub noted that the county worked with Bug Tussel to erect 22 towers around the county and noted that there will be fiber optic cable to them as well as cellular equipment. He noted the fiber can be used for communications.

“I think it would be good to look at all those resources,” Bub said.

The initial contract proposals for the consultant was for a rate of $34,750 with added costs for mileage and additional expenses. “I am not comfortable in voting for blank checks,” Bub said.

The consultant suggested that a not to exceed amount of $36,500 would cover the study.

“Communication is very important,” said committee member Scott Mildbrand noting it was not an area the county could seek to save money on. He said he anticipated the $36,000 will only be a small part of the cost.

In other radio upgrade action, committee members voted to hold off on replacing some of the radio equipment for emergency management director Dan Gellert until after the radio system study is completed. This is projected to be done by July, after it was noted that while the study does not take a significant amount of time, it would need to be done when there are leaves on the trees since foliage cover impacts radio reception.

Gellert came to the finance committee for their approval after getting the blessing of the law enforcement committee to use funds budgeted for his department to upgrade his personal radio as well as lower-quality radios replacing those used for incident support and community events. Gellert currently uses a hand-me-down radio from the sheriff’s department which he described as being “well loved” with the amount of wear.

Bub suggested holding off on making the purchase until after the study is completed to ensure that whatever is purchased remains compatible with the system the county will use into the future.

“If we are going to spend all that money, I would like to do it right so Taylor County is set for the next decade,” Bub said.

In the end, it was decided to hold off on the radio replacement until after the study was completed.

In other business, committee members

• Received a request from Bub to have the financial reports include a comparison of where departments are for the year in relation to spending for their budgets. He said this would be helpful to see if some departments are going through their budgets swiftly or others that are way under budget to see where spending occurs.

• Approved increasing the budgeted amount for the employee Christmas party from $1,000 to $1,500 to cover additional expense for the holiday meal. This is only a portion of the total cost of the event, with the remainder paid for by the employees.