BENTONVILLE -- Benton County officials on Thursday voiced support for a $350,000 investment in the county's communications system that could be a precursor to a regional adoption of a state-operated digital radio system.
The Public Safety Committee voted to recommend spending about $350,000 to upgrade the communications tower on Whitney Mountain. The panel voted to send the plan to the Finance Committee for discussion.
Marshal Watson, public safety administrator, gave the justices of the peace a presentation on the Arkansas Wireless Information Network communications system. The system is owned and operated by the state and serves the Arkansas State Police, the state Department of Emergency Management and other state agencies. Watson said all 75 counties have some ability to tie in to the state system but that capability varies. Watson said Fayetteville, Little Rock and Jonesboro are all on the state system.
Watson said representatives from the state's Information Services Department met with area law enforcement, fire services and other emergency management providers in July to discuss a possible transition to the state system. He said there will be an estimated $1.2 million cost to build five additional communications towers in Benton and Washington Counties. The counties, cities and other entities would then bear the cost of purchasing individual radios, "subscriber units" as Watson called them, and any other equipment needed to tie in to the new system. Watson said the bulk of the $1.2 million would be for the new radios. The cost to individual participants would depend on the level of participation by area agencies, he said.
Watson said switching to the state's digital system would improve communication among area agencies and give them the newest technology to replace equipment that's now 10 to 15 years old.
"This helps us as a region," Watson said. "If we choose to do this and the cities choose to do this, we will all be able to talk to each other."
Tom Allen of District 4 and chairman of the Finance Committee, said he favors the plan but only if other agencies decide to participate. Allen said he attended the meeting in July and heard concerns from area cities about retaining control over their communication systems.
"When we met previously, one of the concerns I had was that, if everybody doesn't buy in, it kind of hurts the whole purpose," he said.
Maj. Shawn Holloway with the Benton County Sheriff's Office said there are ongoing talks among the area's law enforcement and fire services and those will continue. He said the cities that now have their own dispatch centers would retain them in the new system.
"They are interested in looking into it," Holloway said. "They have said they'll need more data on what it will do for them."
Watson said the county needs to have a plan for its future communications needs and the improvements proposed for the tower on Whitney Mountain will benefit the county no matter what kind of system is chosen. He said the digital system is "the gold standard" and that would be his first choice, but the county has and will continue to have other options.
"We're in a holding pattern right now," he said. "We're all waiting to see what the others would do."
Emergency
Communication
The Arkansas Wireless Information Network is a statewide system for emergency communication. Marshal Watson, Benton County's public safety administrator, said the state system has more than 100 towers and over 27,000 authorized radios. Benton County is exploring the option of joining the state system, which could be expanded with additional towers in Northwest Arkansas if enough emergency services agencies in the region are willing to join.
Source: Staff Report
General News on 09/16/2015