Emporia city commissioners have approved action to renovate the city-county emergency radio system.
During a special action session, Wednesday morning commissioners voted 4-0, with one abstention, to purchase over 220 Motorola radios from Lyon County. To that end commissioners also approved the issuance of $900,000 in general obligation bonds to cover the cost of the radios, which must be paid by Oct. 31, 2020.
Mayor Jon Geitz tells KVOE News the city has enough money in its bond and interest account to cover the cost, however, they are required to “issue a note” to access that money.
The city’s action Wednesday comes quicker than many were expecting as during their Oct. 13 action session last week commissioners voted to postpone the decision in order to view alternative payment options for Rural Fire District Four’s radios and revisit the topic on their Nov. 6 action session. The session would have been held two days before a contract deadline for the purchase of the equipment with Motorola which in turn will provide the city and county with a significant discount.
Geitz says Motorola lawyers recently told city staff there would not be enough time between the action session and deadline to finalize the contract, hence why the city held Wednesday’s special session.
The city’s action follows a recommendation from the Lyon County 911 Board to purchase radios and equipment from Motorola as part of a much larger effort to revamp the system, which has been deteriorating the past few years. Since the severe weather season began earlier this year, the system has had two primary channel failures and three bent antennas, according to information in this week’s special action meeting agenda packet. The antennas have been realigned, but one channel has been using loaner equipment and the other is using equipment from yet another channel. Estimates have only about 60 percent of the county covered by the current radio system, according to information provided by Lyon County.
Emporia is buying radios and equipment for administrators, Code Services, the Fire and Police departments, Parks and Zoo staffers and the Public Works Department. Lyon County, meanwhile, is purchasing the overall system, including radios and infrastructure. Estimated radio cost has been announced at around $1.5 million to $1.8 million. Total cost, including infrastructure, will be around $4 million.
On a separate but related topic, commissioners also unanimously approved an amendment to an ordinance pertaining to the Lyon County 911 Board. The amendment seeks to have both a city and county commissioner receive a seat on the board.
The amendment was originally proposed during the city-county joint meeting two weeks ago by commissioner Rob Gilligan. Geitz says the rationale behind the amendment is the fact the board handles several items which can often carry major capital costs.
The city’s decision today will not become official unless Lyon County Commissioners follow suit. A potential timetable for that decision has not been announced.
In other business commissioners also approved the transfer of property into the Emporia Land Bank. Following the conclusion of their special session, commissioners moved directly in their regular scheduled study session.
More information on that meeting will be coming at a later time.
