St. Lawrence County approves funding for new emergency radio towers
Sep. 24—CANTON — St. Lawrence County legislators passed resolutions during Monday's Operations Committee meeting to help advance the county Emergency Services Department.
The first resolution authorizes a contract with the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Office of Interoperable and Emergency Communications, for a grant of more than $1.5 million.
"The first resolution I have before you is our state grant, which we normally get every year," said Matthew R. Denner, emergency services director. "This money is to build two of our three 911 towers we're looking to construct in 2023."
Over the phone Friday, Mr. Denner said the department currently operates eight towers, but they're looking to construct three more next year — "one in Cranberry Lake, one in Star Lake, and we're looking for a location for the third one," he said.
He said the Cranberry Lake tower is needed because the radio coverage in the Adirondack Park is limited.
"We have a small antenna there, but it's not far off the ground, and in Star Lake it's on a telephone pole, so neither are ideal heights," he said. "So we're working with the Adirondack Park Authority to put up a couple new towers, which we'd like to get above the trees."
He said he wants the new towers to be around 180 feet tall. "Anything higher than that would have to have lights," which he said wouldn't be desirable in the Adirondacks.
"But the taller we get the antenna, the further we can get out with radio service," he added. "They will help that area of the county quite a bit."
The new towers, he said, will run about $1 million a piece, and this grant will cover the majority of construction for the first two.
The grant is for $1,604,582. It's meant to improve the operability of communication systems across the state.
"This grant allows the state to provide aid to county, local and municipal public safety organizations in enhancing emergency response, improving capability, improvements in governance structures, operating procedures, infrastructure development," and more, according to the resolution.
During the meeting, legislators also passed a resolution authorizing contracts with Business Electronics for a recording system for equipment and maintenance.
"This resolution is for new 911 recorders," Mr. Denner said during the meeting. "It's going to replace our two recorders that we have now which are outdated as we move into more digital stuff," he said.
"The Office of Emergency Services records all incoming and outgoing phone calls and radio transmissions at both the Primary Public Safety Answering Point (Canton) and the Backup Public Safety Answering Point (Massena)," the resolution states.
The current recording system, it says, has components that are more than a decade old. The entire recording systems at both answering points must be upgraded or replaced as a result.
The cost of new recording systems would be $93,688 in total, with their entire cost being covered by the New York State Public Safety Answering Point Grant.
