Forest County commissioners on Wednesday discussed various aspects of the county’s emergency response, including digital radios and preparations for next generation 911.
The county is also looking into new P 25 radios for the sheriff’s department.
“Newer radios have much larger capabilities. In Warren they can talk to Harrisburg,” Sheriff Bob Wolfgang said. “Our radios now sometimes have trouble communicating with Warren. It’s a safety thing and a money thing,” Wolfgang added.
“We can talk to Tionesta but we can’t talk to Marienville because they are on a different frequency,” Wolfgang said of the radios the department currently uses.
Commissioner Bob Snyder said the new digital radios cost around $1,500 to $1,600 apiece with all the software and technology on them whereas the old analog radios the county is using cost about $300 to $400 per radio. The county is looking into grant opportunities to fund the purchase of new radios.
The estimated cost for equipping the sheriff’s department with new radios is more than $100,000, Snyder said. The county also wants to look into making new radios available to fire departments so they can all communicate with each other.
Snyder said the Warren and Clarion 911 centers have told Forest County they will support the old system as long as they need to.
Snyder added that in their contract with Warren and Clarion counties for 911 services, Forest County is responsible for providing the equipment used to dispatch calls in Forest County.
Snyder explained that Warren County was the county where the new radio system was piloted as part of a state police project that began three years ago to increase interconnectivity and communication between various emergency response and law enforcement agencies in the state.
Forest County is scheduled to be the last county to come aboard with the new radio system in 2023, even though the radios have already been tested in the county and work, Snyder said.
In other business at Wednesday’s commissioners meeting, Snyder said the northern tier of counties in Pennsylvania will be the first area in the state to go live with next generation 911.
To prepare for the new 911 system, “a lot of GIS work needs done” in Forest County, Snyder said.
The GIS work will be done by Bailey Thompson, the county’s recently hired Community Development Block Grant coordinator.
The northern tier includes Forest, Clarion, Crawford and Warren counties. Forest County’s 911 dispatch services come through the Clarion and Warren 911 centers.
The commissioners also approved the purchase of three 112-foot composite poles to be used for broadband at a cost of $122,980 per pole.
Commissioners accepted with regret the resignation of Pete Wadlow in the maintenance department.
The commissioners also approved hiring Brent Nelson as a full-time deputy sheriff trainee.
Nelson, who has no prior experience in law enforcement, will job shadow current deputies and work on certifications and other tasks related to the sheriff’s department for five months before going to the training academy to become a sheriff’s deputy.
During Nelson’s period of training before he goes to the academy, Wolfgang said he will share Nelson with other departments to do odd jobs for them.
“I’m not getting applicants in the sheriff’s office…call other counties and see how many problems they are having getting people. State police are not getting very many applicants and they pay a lot more,” Wolfgang said.
Wolfgang said he has had such a hard time getting people to apply because “nobody wants to do this job.”