FARMINGTON – First responders are hoping that a federal grant and tax increment finance funding will allow Franklin County to better understand and address the region’s emergency communication issues.
County commissioners unanimously approved expending $5,000 out of the TIF district’s emergency communication planning fund, with the money to go toward paying for a study of Franklin County’s emergency communications system. The study would focus on the development of a comprehensive, county-wide communications plan, according to Dispatch Director Stan Wheeler, as well as specific improvements to address ongoing issues throughout Franklin County.
Wilton, for example, continues to struggle to make consistent contact with the dispatch center. Wheeler said that Police Chief Heidi Wilcox had recently told him that in four or five cases, officers had been unable to contact dispatchers. More troubling, two of those incidents involved officers calling for backup as they actively worked to arrest a suspect.
Commissioner Clyde Barker reported that he had spoken with Strong Fire Chief Duayne Boyd Monday and learned that firefighters were unable to hear anything but tones from the dispatch center. That forced them to call the center to learn the nature and location of the emergency, Barker said, adding that he had heard of issues in Phillips and Rangeley as well.
“Right now, we’re at a dangerous point,” Barker said.
Wheeler said that dispatchers and their IT support would continue trying to address issues, but Franklin County’s hilly terrain presented a significant obstacle. Recently, Wheeler said, local officials had contacted four vendors associated with emergency communications, seeking ideas to improve the system. They received four, different answers, Wheeler said, including one to change the entire operation over to microwave transmissions. The county’s emergency communications committee, comprised of members of local first responder agencies, did not have the expertise to evaluate the suggestions, he said.
That was why comprehensive, county-wide consideration of the issue was necessary, Wheeler said. The $5,000 would cover a little more than half of the estimated $9,500 cost of the study.
The remainder would hopefully be paid for through a $69,000 federal Department of Homeland Security grant, according to Franklin County Emergency Management Agency Director Tim Hardy. Remaining funds, after the study was conducted, could be used to begin implementing specific suggestions, Hardy said.
“We really haven’t sat down and drawn up a plan,” Hardy said. Smaller fixes the county had attempted amounted to a “band aid” approach, he said.
The county also has roughly $150,000 in TIF funds to expend on emergency communication improvements, County Clerk Julie Magoon said, but could only use that money if a plan was developed. TIF funding is a product of the 2008 agreement between the county and TransCanada, regarding that company’s Kibby wind power project.
Hardy said that he expected to hear back about the DHS grant by early October. At that point, commissioners will likely be asked to approve funding the communication study.
Doesn’t anyone already know what the problem, or problems, are? Doesn’t this need to be fixed immediately? This is downright scary. I don’t think we have time to “study” the problem. Surely to goodness something can be done today. Endangering our lives is serious.
I have been involved in VHF communications in this area since the early 80’s. The mountainous terrain precludes an easy, cheap solution. Many of us will be discouraged by the cost when we see it. It will be a constant struggle.
this problem has been going on for a few years now and its way past time to get this inproved .some of the problem is in the portable radios that officers carry while alot of the problem exist in the hilly terrain. i would think that with all the cell towers in the franklin county area along with our towers could help this problem. next would be getting the permission to use the cell towers to help out .right now we only have the mosher hill tower,sugarloaf tower and mt blue tower .the mt blue tower helped some but its still not sufficient enough in other bad spots around our county .when our fire depts,ambulances and police officers need help then we should see that they get the money and all the help they need to get this done ,its not a question of its too expensive its a question of life and death and we’ve been lucky so far .