OSWEGO COUNTY, NY – Oswego County continues to examine its options to improve the county-wide emergency communications system.
Emergency responders across the county have defended the need for a new system for many years, faced with coverage concerns and “dead spots” that create potentially dangerous situations for those in the field.
In June, the county approved the creation of a capital project to conduct a full-scale communications system assessment in Oswego County. The capital project was funded initially with a $100,000 allocation.
County Administrator Phil Church explained at that time that the money was being set aside for the first phase of the project, which includes research, engineering and design work.
This week, Michael Allen, director of the county’s E-911 center, asked the Public Safety and Emergency Services Committee to allocate $75,000 from that capital project to enter a contract with an engineering firm that will study the available options.
“What we will end up with in the end is a better idea of what we will need for our communications system in Oswego County,†Allen said. “We will get the information and make decisions.â€ÂÂ
Replacing the emergency communications system was one of several goals that Oswego County Legislature Chairman Barry Leemann set down when he delivered the state of the county address this year.
“The system we have now is becoming obsolete,†Leemann said in the address. “There are many areas of the county where coverage is unreliable.â€ÂÂ
Leemann said that the effort will be a multi-year project that would begin this year with careful planning and research.
“Our goal should be nothing less than a modern system in which coverage is reliable and complete, all year round and in every single part of the county,†he said.
Church explained that the research end will include discussions with first responders around the county to evaluate needs and determine the options that are available to meet those needs.
“Four or five departments have been surveyed,†Allen said this week. “It is going to take a couple of months to get the report together.â€ÂÂ
In addition to the consultant contract, Allen requested that the county enter an agreement with a project manager. That request came with a $25,000 price tag.
Church said in May that the research phase of the project will also include the development of budget numbers that will be necessary to fund the system.
“Once the first phase is complete, the Legislature will have the information it needs on what it will cost, how it will work and what type it will be so it can begin to go about financing it,” Church said.
“This will create a (document) that we can use to seek qualified vendors to build the system for us,” Allen added. “The Legislature can then decide if we can do it.”
Within its plans, Church said that the county is researching grant funding that could help to pay for the additional project phases. He said that Oswego County will work in cooperation with Onondaga and Madison counties to have more leverage for grant funding.
“I expect (the report) to be done within four to six months,†Allen said. “By the first part of the year, we will get the report in hand.â€ÂÂ
Allen stressed that it is more important for the county to get good information, rather than rush the project. The committee subsequently approved both requests.
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