County continues work on communications

Commissioners opted Monday to continue trying to upgrade communication between road hands out in the county.

Spending $20,430 on a repeater, which will allow commissioners and their road hands to communicate with each other, was approved. The repeater is the same one both the sheriff’s office and fire departments both use for communication out in the field.

A less expensive repeater would have run the county little more than $11,000 but would not have allowed county employees to communicate with the Sheriff’s Department. Information Technology Director Frank Hefner said going with a more expensive repeater also has other long-term benefits.

“Getting a high-level repeater will allow for this repeater to be a backup for the sheriff department or fire department,” Hefner said. “It should last about 10 years before an upgrade.”

Hefner said radios will still need to be purchased at a cost of between $600 and $2,500 each. Getting a cheaper radio makes little sense with the good repeater.

To read the complete article, see the Sept. 28 edition of the Herald-Gazette.