Local government had a lot to talk about during a series of meetings Wednesday.
City and County Commissioners met for their quarterly joint meeting inside the Lyon County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon. During the meeting members of the Lyon County 911 board presented a new project for the consideration of both the city and county officials.
The project deals specifically with the county’s public safety radio system. According to Lyon County Emergency Management Director Jarrod Fell, the current UHF radio system is nearing its end of life and has been experiencing several issues.
This system utilizes a voter, which enhances the transmit-only function of a portable or mobile radio. This does not improve the ability of portable or mobile radios to receive transmissions from repeated sites. The voting system was installed to improve reception for portable radio use but has experienced chronic problems due to interference.
Fell says these issues are a major concern when it comes to critical incident information.
The proposed project would see the county switch over to a digital trunked 800 MHz system. A trunked system differs from a conventional system as it allows all stations and units to share all frequencies whereas the radio messages in a conventional system between stations and units occur on only one frequency.
Lyon County Emergency Communications Center Director Roxanne Van Gundy says this will cut down on interference and allow for more interoperability between responders.
The project would require approval by both the city and county commissions. Fell estimates the total project cost including the cost of infrastructure work and radios will be somewhere around $4.3 million.
Fell adds, they are hoping to begin the project by 2020.
In other business, the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office proposed a letter to be sent to the Kansas Department of Transportation seeking a meeting with representatives from the county and KDOT on emergency response and resources available from the state during disaster situations, such as the recent blizzard back in November.
After the joint meeting concluded, city commissioners then convened at the Emporia Municipal Court Room for their regularly scheduled action session. During the meeting, the City Commission approved awarded a bid for the removal and replacement of concrete at the Public Works building.
The total cost of that project is just under $120,000.
Commissioners also recognized city employee Debbie Davidson with the quarterly above and beyond award and discussed the possibility of adding more sewer projects to a list of currently planned city infrastructure improvement projects for 2019.
City commissioners will next meet Wed. Feb 13 inside conference room 1AB at White Auditorium.
