2008 Woodie Awards
Butler Co. radio towers set to go online in October, connect public safety force
Meaghan McAvoy
Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: Community
Butler County has finished constructing 14 new radio towers throughout the county with the intention for all public safety forces to be connected on one common radio system.
The physical towers may be up, however the system is not scheduled to go online until October of this year. This delay is attributed to the amount of equipment that still needs to be installed, according to Oxford Police Sergeant and Project Manager Matt Franke.
"There's still a lot of work to be done, which is why October is the date for the first use of the system," he said.
Franke explained what the new countywide radio station would achieve.
"It will essentially allow all police, EMS and fire to communicate with each other at any time," he said.
Oxford Vice Mayor Ken Bogard explained via-email the problems under the existing system that will be solved once the new system goes online this upcoming fall.
"Under the current system, police departments cannot talk with each other and have to use outdated communications systems to coordinate calls," he said.
The radio communication system is essentially remaining unchanged except for now allowing a bigger network of people to interact with each other.
Bogard mentioned how the construction of the towers is expected to benefit Butler County.
"The construction of these towers will enable law enforcement departments and fire departments to be on the same frequency and share information from one jurisdiction to another," he said.
In order to collect money for the new system, the Butler County Commissioners enacted a sales tax, according to Franke, which increased to 6.5 percent in August 2005 and was dropped back down to 6.25 percent in January 2007.
"Money is collected from an additional half percent sales tax that the tax commissioners put on for 18 months," he said.
This sales tax allowed for $35 million to be set aside for this project, Franke said.
The new radio towers will allow for all public safety forces to communicate with each other, compared with the current system that limits communication to a single force.
The physical towers may be up, however the system is not scheduled to go online until October of this year. This delay is attributed to the amount of equipment that still needs to be installed, according to Oxford Police Sergeant and Project Manager Matt Franke.
"There's still a lot of work to be done, which is why October is the date for the first use of the system," he said.
Franke explained what the new countywide radio station would achieve.
"It will essentially allow all police, EMS and fire to communicate with each other at any time," he said.
Oxford Vice Mayor Ken Bogard explained via-email the problems under the existing system that will be solved once the new system goes online this upcoming fall.
"Under the current system, police departments cannot talk with each other and have to use outdated communications systems to coordinate calls," he said.
The radio communication system is essentially remaining unchanged except for now allowing a bigger network of people to interact with each other.
Bogard mentioned how the construction of the towers is expected to benefit Butler County.
"The construction of these towers will enable law enforcement departments and fire departments to be on the same frequency and share information from one jurisdiction to another," he said.
In order to collect money for the new system, the Butler County Commissioners enacted a sales tax, according to Franke, which increased to 6.5 percent in August 2005 and was dropped back down to 6.25 percent in January 2007.
"Money is collected from an additional half percent sales tax that the tax commissioners put on for 18 months," he said.
This sales tax allowed for $35 million to be set aside for this project, Franke said.
The new radio towers will allow for all public safety forces to communicate with each other, compared with the current system that limits communication to a single force.
Be the first to comment on this story