Supervisors set rates for comms discussion
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors continued discussions on the roughly $5.8 million communications upgrade that would allow the county to join other counties on the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System.
Numerous members of the Red Oak Fire Department, Red Oak Police Department, and outlying county emergency responders have stressed the need for the upgrade, citing outages and areas of the county where radio and cellular communications are disrupted.
At the Supervisors meeting Jan. 9, Montgomery County Emergency Management coordinator Brian Hamman said representatives of Mills and Page County were available to answer questions regarding their own communications upgrade, and were planning to attend the upcoming public forum Jan. 17 in the Montgomery County courthouse courtroom.
Supervisors Chairman Mike Olson said a representative of the ISICS board, Chris Maiers, would be present at the meeting today to also answer questions on the benefits of the new system, should the county proceed with plans.
Page County’s system upgrade is for a single-band, while Mills County is choosing a dual-band system. Supervisor Donna Robinson asked if there was a benefit to pursuing single band. Hamman said the county could choose the single band, but there would be issues.
“During the install, we have to add additional cost because the number figured in per radio for all the vehicles because they are utilizing the existing hole for the antenna, cabling, and power. That has to double. Each vehicle would have to have two radios. A VHF radio, and a 700 bandwidth radio. All of our existing VHF radios are analog and would have to be updated. Up front, dual-band is more money, but over the lifespan, you’re not servicing and replacing two separate radios. In my opinion, single band is not feasible,” Hamman said.
Montgomery County Communications supervisor Jackie Laire said the world has changed over the years, and rural communities face the same dangers as urban cities.
“The old saying of, “It’s not going to happen in our area doesn’t hold true anymore. We hope it never happens, but it can, and we all need to be prepared,” Laire said.
The supervisors shifted into discussions regarding amortization scenarios for the potential project, specifically a time frame for the general obligation bond repayment. The supervisors were all in favor of selecting a time frame, for discussion.
“Personally, when we’re talking about technology in general, I’d hate to see it go very long, knowing how quickly it goes out of date. I’m not saying I’m in favor as of yet, but for discussion purposes, I’d consider looking at 10 years,” said Supervisor Mark Peterson.
Supervisor Bryant Amos said he felt having D.A. Davidson & Co. research a 15-year amoritization schedule was a good starting point, with the second option being 20 years.
Olson stressed that the choice was subject to change, and was for discussion purposes only, so D.A. Davidson could provide specific numbers. The supervisors unanimously approved the 15 year amortization rate, and the back up rate of 20 years.