MACC discusses new radios

MOSES LAKE — The Grant County Fire District 5 commissioners wrote a letter in support of the Multi Agency Comm-unication Center (MACC) plan to switch to a combination of digital and analog radios.

The switch is part of a series of improvements to the radio towers, which are paid for by a voter-approved 0.1 sales tax.  The center has rebuilt existing sites and is in the process of building new towers.

Dean Hane, the radio communications manager, said in an interview, the next step to the improvements is to choose a new radio system. Presently, the system runs on an analog system, which has limited channels and problems with interference. He is looking at a combination of a new digital radio system and continue the analog system.

The move to digital is part of Federal Communication Commission (FCC) requirement for emergency communication’s to halve the amount of bandwidth they use by 2013.

The change to the new system will mean emergency services  departments have to purchase new radios that operate on those bands.

Patrick Hochstatter, Grant County Fire District 5’s board chairman, stated he supported moving towards the combination of analog and digital. He also supports developing a cost share program to help pay for the new radios.

“We want to emphasize our commitment to the continued improvement of the radio system that serves the public safety providers in our fire district and throughout Grant County. The continued operation of a consolidated public safety dispatching program through MACC is essential to this belief,” he stated.

Hane said he wanted a similar proposals from other agencies, adding he would compile the results and make a recommendation to the MACC board.

“This is fairly broad … There’s not a bunch of details about cost and things of that nature or dates,” he said. “It’s a good model to start with. I would encourage everybody to take a look at it and form an opinion.”

Moses Lake Fire Chief Tom Taylor said the agencies need to know what the radio options are, but they also need an idea of what the board is willing to spend to help with conversion.

“Some agencies may want to go to a certain technology, but they can never afford it, so until the MACC board comes up and says, ‘Here’s the options, so now we have the options laid out in front of you are you willing to make that commitment?’ because we have heard a lot of agencies are not going to make that commitment until they know how they are going to pay for it,” he said.

 Hane said there are a lot of ways to solve the money problem, but there aren’t a lot of ways to solve the interference problems and the lack of channels.

“But you’re right. We’re both right, I guess. We are going to talk sometime soon about the dollars. How it will affect the agency,” he said. “I still think the user agencies need to know what’s out there based on what’s going to work for them.”

Taylor said his department isn’t ready to commit to a particular system until it knows what it will cost.

Grant County Fire District 5 Fire Chief Roger Hansen, also the MACC board chair, said the letter does address the need for a cost sharing program, but the agencies need to “break the ice somewhere.”