Additional emergency radio system funds sought
DOVER-FOXCROFT — During the fall Piscataquis County officials heard an update from consultant Normand Boucher of Communications Design Consulting Group of Barrington, New Hampshire on the emergency radio system project. He said seven new tower sites would cost $2,695,000 above $4.2 million already awarded in federal monies for radio infrastructure to bring the project to about $6.9 million total, an amount that still needs to be finalized.
In 2023 $4.2 million for the radio project was part of a U.S. Senate Appropriations bill secured by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King of Maine. The award was the largest of seven projects included in the part of the legislation that would give $7.6 million to police and other public safety agencies across the state.
As the top Republican of the Appropriations Committee, Collins championed the Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations bills. This targeted funding for Piscataquis County Emergency Management Agency was included in that appropriations legislation at the request of Collins. King was also listed as a requester of the funds.
Since 2020 Piscataquis County and municipal emergency officials have been working to update outdated infrastructure and long-running problems with the county’s radio communications for emergency personnel. After delays due to questions on funding sources, the endeavor is now being overseen by a 6-member committee. There also is a 15-member subcommittee including town managers, fire chiefs, police department members, emergency medical service providers, and representatives of CPKC Railroad.
There is no guarantee that funds will be secured, but grant possibilities could reduce the near $2.7 million cost which may go out to a bond if the county commissioners decide to go that route. Additional radio system funding opportunities and the possibility of a bond were a topic of conversation during a meeting of the commissioners on the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 7.
Piscataquis County Sheriff Bob Young said improving radio capabilities is a very important issue. Many of the problems stem from the hilly and mountainous terrain of the region and/or aging and out of date infrastructure.
Young said work has been on-going with area police and fire departments and emergency medical and municipal officials, some of whom were at the commissioners meeting. “We’re at a crunch point,”he said, mentioning the $4.2 million federal grant has specific earmarks and funding plans need to be in place by the end of the year.
“Now we’re looking at, on top of the $4.2 million, another $2 million or so,” Young said. The sheriff said some adjustments would likely be made “but the bottom line is $2 million is probably a conservative estimate.”
“This has been a challenging project because there have been time delays to it for a variety of different reasons, staffing, personnel,” Brownville Fire Chief Shawn Mitchell said. “One of the greater challenges right now we are facing, as the sheriff mentioned, we’re really at a crossroad. We can’t come up with a true hard, fast 100 percent here’s what the price is because we haven’t gone out to bid, we haven’t negotiated with landowners we need to potentially purchase some land to put up some towers.”
Mitchell said a plan has been devised with Boucher that he feels will be best for the county. “It involves a system that uses 11 tower sites throughout the county,” he said. “It gives us 90th percentile of coverage in the populated areas of the county as well as a significantly increased coverage in the unpopulated areas within the county.”
The fire chief said cost reductions have been examined. “I don’t think we have been fortunate to find anything that will bandaid it enough, for a lack of a better term, to keep it successful and moving forward,” he said, mentioning the specific grant requirements such as what type of microwave radio system needs to be installed.
“We as a committee would like to continue to work with the commissioners,” Mitchell said.
“We’re almost starting from scratch, we have new towers that need to go up,” he said. “We have new buildings that need to be built, generator systems at these locations. It is very fortunate we are where we are at with the system.”
When asked, Mitchell said Boucher has pointed out that the project is “all or nothing” as only putting in some new components would not alleviate the issues.
County Manager MiKE Williams said conversations with Boucher have indicated that Blair Hill in Greenville could be a better location for a tower than nearby Moose Mountain. Williams said this shows how the project can vary, saying some sites would be cheaper than renting space on existing commercial towers.
“There are so many variables, we will never get a hard and fast number until we go out to bid,” Mitchell said, with cost savings, project additions, and landowner negotiations to be determined.
He said he wanted to see if the commissioners would consider a bond, and if so then the emergency services personnel would be willing to assist with public outreach. If not, then the pursuit would probably come to an end.
“We are at a crossroads where we don’t know a different direction to head in at this time,” Mitchell said.
Commissioners Chair Andrew Torbett asked if other federal grant funds have been pursued.
Mitchell said the committee was told there are no other Congressionally Directing Spending funds. He said Assistance to Firefighters Grant programs do not cover infrastructure and FEMA and Maine Emergency Management Agency programs have no application grants.
“We have exhausted all of the federal and state avenues that any of us who are on this committee and the consultant are aware of also,” Mitchell said.
Williams said he will be meeting with offices of both Collins and King and a grant specialist so there could be something NEW to be discovered.
He said he used a $3.5 million figure and 4.5 percent interest rate for cost estimates. At 20 years, not including maintenance expenses, the bond payments would be about $239,000 annually. Using the current year’s municipal tax assessments, this would be divided across the region from a low of $6,500 to $39,000 per town. Based on state valuations, this would average to a $21 increase on a $300,000 property.
Commissioner Paul Davis said he would like every avenue exhausted before a bond is considered. “I would never say never, but I am very reluctant to put the county into debt,” he said.
Mitchell said he understands as a taxpayer, but “the county has a broken system now, it’s getting worse every day.”
“We are at a pivotal point where your police officers can’t talk, your firefighters can’t talk, your EMS personnel can’t talk, and we are expected at 2 o’clock in the morning to perform all these things,” he said. “We need some help.”
Torbett said if more funding sources cannot be found then those involved will get to the point where they need to present the radio project to taxpayers.
“I would rather do the bonding than lose a life here or there,” Commissioner Wayne Erkkinen said.
“I don’t think there’s any question about the need, it’s the way that we get there,” Davis added.
Torbett said they will see what happens with the meetings with senators’ offices. “I think I am comfortable saying the commissioners are open, as a last resort, to working across the communities of Piscataquis to see if we can get a favorable response to a bond,” he said.
A question was asked about the referendum question being on the June or November ballot.
Mitchell said June would be ideal from his perspective. He said funds need to be committed by the end of the year, and this means going out to bid with a contract signed and a November vote would create more of a time crunch.
The commissioners are scheduled to discuss the radio project more at one of the February meetings.
The county paid Communications Design Consulting Group $27,000 for a feasibility study on radio communications, which was first presented in November 2021. Before the feasibility study, Boucher spent months meeting with members of area fire and police departments and toured sites around the region, including locations of about a dozen transmitters.