By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
Emergency personnel in Ellis County soon will be getting new radios after the county commission approved the purchase of more than 160 public safety radios at Monday’s commission meeting.
For several years, Ellis County has been planning to purchase new public safety radios to replace some equipment that is close to 15 years old.
Director of Fire and Emergency Management Darin Myers said after December 2018 all of the equipment will no longer be able to be repaired by the manufacturer.
Myers said a group of Ellis County officials worked together to find radios that will benefit safety officials now but also allow for expansion in the future.
Among the possible future upgrades for the radios are automatic vehicle locators (AVLs). According to Myers, the AVLs allow each department and dispatch to locate each unit throughout the county.
Myers used the recent fire in Russell County, where Ellis County crews assisted, as an example of the use of the AVL technology.
“You can actually have the mapping on an iPad or computer in your vehicle where you can see where all your fire department’s apparatuses are spread out.” Myers said, “That was about a 5-mile long fire. The one we had earlier in March was about 12 miles.”
EMS Director Kerry McCue told the commission Ellis County is behind when it comes to the AVLs and said if the communications center and dispatch know the location of an ambulance unit, they can dispatch the closest one, which would will cut response time.
Myers said it will also allow for quicker response time for law enforcement.
The new radios are GPS-capable, but the county will not purchase that option at this time. Myers said the first step is to purchase the radios and then they will have to purchase additional equipment, including a server, that allows the radios to become AVTs.
The county commission approved $388,286.71 to purchase radios for the sheriff, emergency medical services and emergency management departments. According to Myers, the general fund has approximately $500,000 that was scheduled to roll over into 2018. A portion of that will cover the purchase of the radios for those three departments.
Because the fire department is a separate taxing entity general fund, money cannot be used for its expenditures. Instead the commission voted 2-1 to approve a five-year lease purchase agreement with Commerce Bank of Hays for $132,340.26.
The two lowest rates were from Commerce Bank and Emprise Bank. Myers said if the current tax reform bill being debated in Washington passes, it will lower the corporate tax rate and that will cause the lease purchase percentage to go up.
The quote from Emprise Bank was the lowest but if the tax legislation does not pass, the county can renegotiate the rate with Commerce Bank.
Myers said that because all of the prior leases are with Commerce Bank he would like to keep all the leases with them.
Commissioner Barb Wasinger voted against the measure because of the choice of Commerce Bank instead of Emprise.
“I’m not going to vote no to say that I don’t want you to do it,” Wasinger said “I’m not sure we really thought about it with Emprise.”
The commission also approved the sale of some of the used radios through a buyback program that Motorola is offering.
Myers said they estimate the county will get a return of about $28,000 for selling the old radios.
Buckeye Wind Energy LLC also presented the county with $1,500 at Monday’s meeting to help pay for the upgraded radios.
Shawn Braun with Buckeye Wind said they understand the importance of communication.
“We deal with it day in and day out as everybody else does and being able to stay on top of the newest thing can only help get things done faster and potentially save lives,” said Braun.
Myers said the county will purchase approximately 58 mobile units that will be installed in emergency vehicles or in stations and 100 portable radios to be carried by individuals.
In other business, the commission approved a revised contract with County Counselor Bill Jeter and Jeter Law Firm. The agreement allows Jeter to represent the county in front of the Board of Tax Appeals and increases Jeter’s fee by $500 per month to $5,500.
The commission approved automatic mutual aid agreements between the Ellis County Fire Department and the cities of Ellis and Victoria. The agreements are similar to the one with the city of Hays. It does not change any of the services currently being offered by Ellis County fire crews.
The commission also re-appointed Kerry McCue as Ellis County’s representative to the Homeland Security Council.
The commission also met in three separate executive sessions.
Commissioner Dean Haselhorst and Marcy McClelland were joined in the first one by County Attorney Tom Drees, Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes and Ryan Loehr from the Case Linden Lawfare of Kansas City to discuss current ligation.
All three commissioners, Smith-Hanes and Jeter took part in the other two executive sessions to discuss matters that are covered under attorney-client privilege.
No action was taken following any other executive sessions.