New County Commissioners Ted Kula and Mike Gore met recently with 911 Administrator Steve Lipscomb, and representatives from Summers EMS, law enforcement, fire departments and the public parks’ system.
Statute requires the advisory board to meet several times every year, purely in an advisory capacity, to discuss ways to protect the population and visitors to Summers County. Kula and Gore said they were eager to meet with the board and to open dialogue about needed communications equipment and technology.
Lipscomb and others in attendance agreed it had been an extended period of time since the advisory board had met. The most pressing issue universal to all the agencies and departments had to do with the expediency of joining the SIRN system, known as the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network of digital radios, and the antennae and towers required to make the system operable.
The SIRN System started in three northern West Virginia counties from Clarksburg to Morgantown. It was initiated to overcome the dead spots where radio communication was unattainable between law enforcement in the different counties and the regional jail in Monongalia County.
New Summers County Sheriff Justin Faris says bridging the dead spots in radio communication is necessary to improve public safety and the safety of law enforcement officers. The inconvenience of sometimes having to use a cellphone, in addition to radio communication, has become increasingly distracting and dangerous.
Firefighters face similar inconveniences, sometimes with road names changing at one fork or another and difficulties receiving timely navigational directions. Talcott Volunteer Fire Department Chief Bill Costomiris explained that roads change unexpectedly. For example, Zion Mountain Road changes along the way to Low Gap Church Road.
Changes in road names can create real problems when driving bulky and heavy fire trucks. The Enhanced 911 Advisory Board has been discussing and planning for improved technology but wonders why it has been taking so long.
Summers County 911 Director Lipscomb addressed the concerns raised by the first responders by explaining that the technology is being held up in the state auditor’s office. It’s a multi-faceted process involving decisions about handheld radios, vehicle-mounted radios, location for new communication tower sites, land acquisition and the digitally programmable radios for each member of every VFD, EMS and law enforcement personnel. The SIRN system links multiple relays together in Summers and neighboring counties. Overall, Lipscomb said, the system is much closer to being a reality than some may think.
Lipscomb explained after the meeting that there were issues about where to locate a new tower, but it appears it will be installed at the Tug Creek Connection where four other relays are ready to be linked to the bigger new one. The tower will be 190 feet tall and will be situated in the middle of the multiple relays.
The national parks service, Lipscomb said, agreed to pay for all the electronics to go at the tower site, to the tune of around $150,000.
The job is ready to go, he added, money has been allocated by the state for the tower and a contractor could be hired quickly, due to the fact that no land acquisition is required. The equipment has been delivered to the state and is being held in a warehouse in Charleston.
Lipscomb said there will be noticeable progress in the very near future, perhaps by summer.
To learn more about the SIRN system you can visit www.sirn.wv.gov.
