County Eyes New Communications System To Eliminate Dead Spots
KOSCIUSKO — Kosciusko County could be on the verge of implementing a new countywide communications system.
Kosciusko County Commissioners recently became involved in the quest to find a resolution for radio communication issues that have existed in recent years between local public service agencies.
The commissioners formed a communications committee, consisting of representatives from the Kosciusko Commissioners, Kosciusko County Council, the county administrator, county fire association, county highway department, the 911 dispatch center, emergency management department, Lutheran EMS, the sheriff’s office and Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory.
The committee determined that infrastructure was the main issue.
It is anticipated that the cost of a new system could come with a price tag of upward of $2 million dollars.
One factor contributing to the infrastructure complication is the diverse land surface in Kosciusko County, with areas that reach as high as 1,093 feet above sea level and other areas as low as 705 feet. In addition to this, a continental divide is located in the northern area of the county, on the eastern side of State Road 13, along the frontage of the Northern Indiana Weather Forecast office, two miles north of North Webster. This divide separates the Great Lakes drainage system from the Mississippi River drainage system.
The topographical variance, as well as the continental divide, make it problematic for radio waves to travel in a direct path from the source to the receiver. This results in “dead zones” — areas where mobile devices are not able to access a signal powerful enough to effectively operate on a cellular network.
One possible solution for this would be large towers; however, the cost of those towers exceeds the budget of the response agencies, and there are no grants available at this time to assist with infrastructure expenses.
Attempts have been made to address the infrastructure issues, such as adding additional mini repeaters, changing antennae heights and using radios with more power. The issues deteriorated further in 2013 after the Federal Communications Commission ordered response agencies to use a narrow band, making the wavelength half the original size and causing it to not travel as far.
“We determined that we did not have the technical abilities in this committee,” said County Administrator Marsha McSherry. “We had already identified issues and what some of the problems were.”
They then contacted Terry Burnworth, owner of Pyramid Consulting Services out of Indianapolis, regarding an assessment. In April, Burnworth attended a Kosciusko Commissioners meeting to present a proposal related to a two-part assessment for the public safety communication system.
“I do this assessment for those that are coming to end of life on their equipment,” Burnworth said at the meeting. “Some of your equipment is already end of life, other equipment is coming to end of life.”
Burnworth told the commissioners his company would begin by performing an overall assessment of the public safety communications system and then turn their attention to radio frequency issues.
Commissioner President Cary Groninger said the goal is to find a platform where all public service agencies can communicate back and forth freely.
“We want to have a plan that’s comprehensive and holistic for the whole county,” Groninger said.
Commissioners gave approval at that time for Burnworth to move forward with the assessment.
McSherry said Burnworth’s company has tested locations that Kosciusko 911 Dispatch have identified as problem areas, where they are struggling to hear firemen or officers out in the county.
“They know where a lot of these dead zones are. They went out and performed technical tests in those areas, so we have that information in our report,” McSherry said. “Dispatch was able to help them with that side of the project.”
“We’re still working through the ground process of what we need,” said McSherry. “We would then need to do an RFP and get all that information put together for a proposal if this moves forward.”
McSherry said if a new system is approved and implemented, it may have to be initiated in phases. The proposal put together by Pyramid suggests having three towers in the county — one in the northern part of the county, one in the middle and one in the southern part of the county, with the height of the towers between 350 to 400 feet.
“We’re not sure at this time if we’re going to be able to get funding to move forward with this,” McSherry cautioned, adding that other options are being considered as well.
“If there’s enough interest and support, we’ll have the consultant come and do a formal presentation and he can answer technical questions at that time,” McSherry said. “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done before we would be able to move forward with the process. We formed a committee, hired a consultant — we know where our deficiencies are as far as the radio communication system in the county as a whole is for all emergency agencies and we’re working on addressing the situation.”