Years in the making, Luzerne County’s new 911 radio communication upgrade should be operational by the end of 2021, officials said during a presentation at Tuesday’s council meeting.
“It’s definitely the largest project in my career, and I believe in the history of the county. It’s no small task,” said county 911 Executive Director Fred Rosencrans.
A synopsis of some highlights:
• The project will add emergency communication towers and new microwave dishes and antennas to improve radio coverage that is spotty or nonexistent in some parts of the 980-square mile and largely mountainous county.
These microwave dishes and other radio antenna equipment on 19 towers and communication structures will connect to each other and the county 911 center in Hanover Township, eliminating the need for phone lines to each site. The current microwave system is more than 15 years old and unlicensed.
• Radio channels have been added and opened up to end interference.
• Emergency responders will swap analog radios for digital ones to exchange messages — including 3,500 mobile and portable radios the county purchased for police, fire and emergency medical services agencies at a cost of more than $8 million, officials said.
• Schools also will receive mobile radios with a panic button to directly communicate with 911 in an emergency. Equipment will be added at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township to boost emergency radio connection there.
Motorola Solutions Inc. was awarded the radio system contract. Other companies were retained through a public procurement process to construct and upgrade towers, furnish and install a licensed microwave system and perform other work.
Council Chairman Tim McGinley asked if the project will exceed the original $20.7 million project estimate.
Council borrowed $19.7 million for the project, and the county also received $1.3 million in grants.
Rosencrans projected the cost will be about $1.8 million more, largely because subsequent structural analysis concluded four towers must be replaced to support the new equipment. These towers are in Freeland, Mountain Top, the Campbell’s Ledge area of Duryea and at the Emergency Management Agency in Wilkes-Barre.
COVID-19 also caused the cost of steel and construction to skyrocket, Rosencrans said.
He was quick to stress the administration won’t be coming back to council requesting more funds to be borrowed. Instead, he said he is confident 911 funds and federal recovery funding awarded to the county can be identified to cover the overages.
“Fortunately, through sound fiscal management, we have 911 funds we’ll be able to use to absorb some of these costs,” Rosencrans said.
McGinley said the upgrade will be a “real positive for Luzerne County.”
“I certainly am looking forward to the new system so that we’re able to serve our residents in a much better fashion,” he said.
Michael C. McGrady, of project consultant MCM Consulting Group, said the new system uses the latest technology and is built to last 20 years.
It is designed to blanket the county with 95% coverage, 95% of the time, with a delivered audio quality of 3.4, he said.
Describing this threshold as the “industry standard,” McGrady said it applies to remote areas such as the Ricketts Glen State Park that may require wilderness rescue and the ground floor of structures in both urban and suburban areas throughout the county.
It means dispatchers and users likely won’t have to “repeat” their messages during radio transmissions, he said.
Electrical enhancements will be completed at most towers, and the 911 center is receiving a new uninterruptable power supply that keeps all equipment running during a power surge until a generator kicks in, he said.
Outdated consoles 911 dispatchers use to speak with responders in the field also are being replaced as part of the project, he said.
With such a major investment, every component will be tagged and tracked through an asset management system, McGrady said.
“At all times, the county will know where all their parts and pieces and equipment are,” he said.
He referred residents and responders to a project website — LuzerneP25.org — for more background and updates.
County Councilman Walter Griffith asked if citizens with scanners will have access to frequencies after the conversion.
Rosencrans said fire and EMS channels likely won’t be encrypted, but the county is honoring a request from the Luzerne County Chiefs of Police Association to encrypt police channels for officer safety.