Russellville Mayor Gene Zick informed his council Tuesday night that he thought the county was applying for a grant that would purchase digital mobile and portable radio units that would be compatible with the new system for all emergency service agencies in the county – including the Russellville Fire and Police Departments.
“We were advised recently that the county is going alone on this. My understanding was they were going out for a blanket grant for all agencies and now they are going out for their own needs, which is disconcerting,” said Zick.
He was also concerned about an August deadline that he heard was going to be the date in which the county would “flip the switch” from the old system to the new one, leaving all agencies who do not have new radios “out in the cold.”
Sheriff Wallace Whittaker, who serves as president on the Joint Emergency Communications Operations Board (JECOB) and is dealing with the new system’s construction says that is just not true. JECOB acts as an advisory board to the fiscal court concerning the 911 system.
“There has never been a grant out there applied for to cover all the equipment. In fact the county is going to have to pay for a good deal of the new system out of it’s own pocket,” said Whittaker adding, “There has never been a ‘switch off’ date set from the old system to the new one either. I don’t know where they are getting their information from but they can be rest assured the new system will not go online until every emergency service agency in Logan County has their equipment.”
Dave Powell, a representative for Kenwood and Palco, the service provider for the new system backed Whittaker’s statements by saying, “It is absurd to think that anyone would be cut off before everyone is ready.”
The county agreed a few months ago to purchase a new 911 radio system from NextEdge because the current system is 11 years old and is not working properly. There have been numerous complaints by police officers, fire departments and the ECC itself about the old system. This along with an incident involving an Auburn Fire Chief last summer who was having trouble contacting dispatch after an alleged arsonist stuck a gun in his face prompted the fiscal court to take action.
The county has received approximately $70,000 from an old grant, said Whittaker, to purchase new radios for the sheriff’s department and the ambulance service.
“The fiscal court has said in the past it is not their responsibility to buy everyone in the county new radios,” said Whittaker. “The county has not purchased radios for other agencies in the past so why would they start now? Everyone is responsible for their own equipment and they can apply for grant monies to pay for it.”
Mayor Zick says he is going to have the city grant writer Kay Simmons write a grant which would encompass all agencies who have not applied for monies yet to purchase radios so no one will be left out. These include police departments, volunteer fire departments, and emergency services such as the Logan County Search and Rescue and Emergency Management. Some agencies have already applied and received monies to purchase new radios.
Zick was concerned about the time frame; however, after hearing about an August “switch off”, because all agencies who want to apply for grant monies with the Department of Homeland Security have to attend trainings first before being eligible to apply in April.
“If this date is correct, this doesn’t give us enough time to go to the trainings and apply for the grant,” said Zick.
“Everyone has known about this for some time now,” said Whittaker. “This is no surprise. We have been talking about radios for the past few years and a new system for the past year. It has been very well publicized and no one is trying to pull anything over on anyone else.”
Russellville Police Chief Barry Dill told the city council Tuesday he had heard the county was going to “switch off” the old system to the new one in August as well.
“That’s what I’m being told by some other members of JECOB,” said Dill who serves as vice president of the board.
According to Dill, someone said the county was switching out the systems in August at a JECOB meeting two weeks ago, in which he did not attend.
Whittaker disputes Dill’s allegations saying, “No one said that.”
The new system is costing the county $526,721 minus the $70,000 in grant monies they received from Homeland Security to purchase their radios.
According to Whittaker, they are going to look at the new system in August, where he says is probably where the confusion on the August date came from.
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