Marshfield Officials Hear Plan for Upgrading Communications System
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018 -- 8:06 AM
(WDLB) -Marshfield officials have been presented with a four-year plan for upgrading its radio communication system for police and fire personnel--to the tune of more than three-quarters of a million dollars.That's what officials from the Green Bay-based Baycom Corporation presented to the Marshfield Common Council last night. The issue came to light last year when the Marshfield Police Department discovered their portable radios were not working from certain areas of the city. The Council responded by taking 190-thousand dollars initially earmarked in the 2018 budget for the Marshfield Area Pet Shelter, and putting it toward 45 new police radios. Scott Johnson of Baycom identified an even bigger problem--the city's tower infrastructure for transmitting radios calls is not adequate, and that should be the focus, versus new portable radios. Johnson has developed a plan which utilizes the 45 new police radios in this year's budget. And the plan calls for additional transmitting towers. Baycom Engineering Manager Dave Steinhoff told the Council that adding the new tower infrastructure is key to developing a successful emergency radio system.
Under the plan, the city would be adding three communication towers, to go with the single tower Marshfield is currently using. That would cost just over 132-thousand dollars, and would be done this year using the 190-thousand dollars already set aside. The new plan also calls for replacing half of the portable radios next year, and the other half in 2020. Baycom is also proposing a fourth tower site in 2021, at a cost of 44-thousand dollars. The Fire Department would also be brought on to that system, at a cost of 152-thousand. The total cost of the Baycom proposal is nearly 765-thousand dollars. There was no Common Council action on the proposal last night.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.