Erie County Council to discuss 911 network, radio study

Source: Erie Times-News, Pa.迷你倉出租Aug. 28--Erie County Council remains unconvinced regarding the county's possible participation in a regional 911 network and a proposed $65,190 study of a new multimillion-dollar, state-of-the-art countywide radio network.Council met Tuesday with Todd Geers, the county's public safety director, and Michael C. McGrady, president of McMurry-based MCM Consulting Group Inc., to ask questions about both issues in a special caucus session Tuesday afternoon at the Erie County Courthouse.The panel took no action.McGrady's firm helped put together the nine-county Northern Tier Telecommunications Project, which Erie County is considering joining. Northern Tier involves multiple counties and features new telephone equipment, information-sharing technology and an Internet-based fiber optic network. The counties share maintenance and other costs for the 911 system.The county would spend $464,000 to join the network, using money from a surcharge on monthly cell-phone bills earmarked for 911 operations."It is sort of like a virtual consolidation," McGrady said, adding that the system is built with "redundancy" that allows one county to handle another's calls in case of a power failure or similar mishap.MCM also wants to help Erie County design what's known as a "next generation" radio system, which could cost as much as $20 million. The new radio system would allow local emergency responders to communicate on common frequencies and replace the fragmented and often-unreliable system now in place.Todd Ge迷你倉rs, the county's public safety director, said the Northern Tier system could save Erie County more than $358,000 in the first year in maintenance and other costs.But some council members want to know how "secondary" dispatch centers like Pennsylvania State Police, Millcreek Police and East Erie County Communications will be affected.Those dispatch centers are not part of the county-run 911 center in Summit Township. They would have to purchase additional equipment to tie into the Northern Tier system."We can't just cut them loose," Councilman Phil Fatica said.Council is considering using county money to help those centers buy equipment to tie into the Northern Tier system.Geers wants County Council to sign off on spending $65,190 for the radio study. Councilman Edward T. DiMattio Jr., however, said that despite several previous studies of the same issue, nothing's been done to create a common-frequency radio system for local first responders.DiMattio said he won't support spending the money unless the county eventually builds a system "we know is going to work."Geers, though, said both moves are necessary."We can't stop progress," Geers said. "We have to move forward."Council is expected to discuss the issues further at its Thursday Finance Committee meeting.KEVIN FLOWERS can be reached at 870-1693 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNflowers.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Erie Times-News (Erie, Pa.) Visit the Erie Times-News (Erie, Pa.) at .GoErie.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存倉