The Ohio community of Highland County is in the process of upgrading the emergency communications system. When put to a vote, commissioners voted 3-0 in favor of hiring Intrado to begin work on the improvements. According to the Highland County Press, installation of text-to-911 capabilities involves a five-year plan with start-up costs of $3,725. Once in service, an annual cost of $16,500 will apply. The current arrangement with Intrado is expected to be operational in six to eight months.
There is a state-level construction budget of $750,000 that Highland County can use toward the improvement of radio communication equipment for law enforcement and first responders. The construction of the new MARCS tower has an estimated total cost of $1.28 million, noted the Highland County Press. The expense includes $60,000 for engineering, $600,000 for the tower, $220,000 for the shelter and $400,000 for radios and antennas. In order to fully fund the MARCS towers project, “There’s $530,000 that we’ve got to come up with,” concluded Highland County commissioner Terry Britton.
The site requirements will allow enough land to “…house the tower, the backup generator, the propane tank for the generator and then a little building to house all the radio electronics for the tower,” stated Highland County Emergency Management Agency Director David Bushelman.
Highland County 911 Coordinator Scott Miller met with Highland County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Brandon Stratton to discuss the plan further, according to Highland County Press. “It’s something that the state is going to require with the next-gen development that they’ve got,” said Miller. “I would hope that in five years, the state will be ready to go online with their next-gen. The governor put in the budget to hopefully get that where it would be free to all of the counties if we hook into the state system. I don’t know that we would need to continue with Intrado at that point or not.”
Miller provided the commissioners with statistics regarding the increase in 911 call volume, and how some of the new software will benefit emergency services. For example, he pointed to the Rapid SOS system that automatically links information from connected emergency devices directly into the 911 system. “There are some alarm companies that are tied into this, and we’ll get an alert to the burglar alarm or fire alarm that’s going off five minutes before they even call us,” said Miller.
Following the session with Miller, the commissioner held a second meeting with Ohio MARCS Field Operations Manager Dick Miller (no relation) and Highland County Emergency Management Agency Director David Bushelman to discuss the placement of the county’s new MARCS tower. There is a proposal to put a new 300-foot tower In a part of the county that has experienced coverage gaps. Ideally, the commissioners would like to put the tower on township owned land in a 100-by-100 foot space that is big enough to accommodate the new structure, according to Highland County Press.
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