“SCHENECTADY COUNTY — The Schenectady County Legislature is preparing to fund an $18.6 million upgrade to the emergency radio system used by police, fire and emergency medical agencies in the county, establishing a single countywide system.
Two legislative committees Monday night approved the plans, which will be aided by a $6 million state grant announced last fall as part of the state’s efforts to establish a statewide interconnected emergency radio system. The system will be interlinked with the Albany County radio system.
In addition to that and other grant funding, the financing plan approved by the Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee includes $10.5 million in borrowing, and a $355,400 withdrawal from the county’s surplus funds.
The approvals by that committee and the Public Safety and Emergency Services Committee sends the plans to the full County Legislature for a vote on June 11.
“Every second counts in an emergency and the ability to improve and expand our current radio system will ensure better communication between our dispatch, police, fire and EMTs and provide a quicker response which often can mean the difference between life and death,” said Legislature Chairman Anthony Jasenski, D-Rotterdam.
Plans call for establishing a countywide simulcast radio system for use by all emergency response agencies, relying in part on the established Albany County Motorola radio system. “The new system will significantly enhance communications within and between all agencies,” County Manager Kathleen Rooney wrote in a memo to the Legislature.
The county official who oversees the emergency radio system said it will also make it easier for emergency responders who may cross county lines during a major emergency. “Outside agencies coming into the county — this is the world we live in — if they have to come into the county, they can’t communicate with incident commanders,” said Kevin Spawn, director of the county’s unified communications center.
The system will replace the different radio systems now used by various municipalities, many of which are as much as three decades old. “A number of the existing systems are reaching the end of their useful life,” Rooney wrote.
The new system would have 11 tower or transmission sites, including three towers in Duanesburg and one in Esperance that would primarily serve the Duanesburg area. Nearly all the tower sites already exist, though one new 195-foot tower will be needed in Duanesburg.”
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Williams, Stephen. Schenectady Gazette 3 June 2019.
Firefighters Close Call website 5 June 2019.