DELHI _ Delaware County Emergency Services needs a new communication system, but the proposed $25 million price tag is not acceptable, county Chairman James Eisel said Wednesday.
"On behalf of Delaware County, I can't propose a $25 million system with an additional $1.5 million-a-year maintenance cost," Eisel said. "That number is astounding, and I am not accepting it. There are other options out there.
"There has got to be a cheaper way to remedy this, and I have got to get my arms around it," Eisel said.
Eisel said the county will be looking at grant dollars to offset the cost of replacing the aging system.
"We have got four years, and I am actively looking at other options," Eisel said. "I am open to any and all possibilities."
Richard Bell, emergency services coordinator, said a comprehensive radio study was done four years ago to analyze the county's system and determine how to bring it up to date.
Bell said at the time of the study, the state had proposed a statewide network that the county hoped to utilize, but the plan collapsed and has been abandoned.
Delaware County finds itself with an antiquated radio system with some components that are 50 years old. In addition, the system operates on frequencies that will no longer be available in 2013.
Bell said the Federal Communication Commission sold the frequency range in which the county's high-band radios operate, so the county will be forced to move to higher frequencies.
"The obstacles we are up against are an infrastructure in which the components are very, very poor," Bell said. "We are faced with a real challenge financially, and with deadlines that are looming."
Bell said 911, law-enforcement agencies, public works and fire and emergency departments use the county's communication system.
When the system was set up, it was intended to accommodate communication between and with vehicles, but handheld devices have become the norm, so there are not enough frequencies to accommodate all the traffic.
Bell said the application requirements for federal stimulus monies have not come down from the state, and when they do, broadband funds are not designed to build the entire communication system.
A $3.2 million grant application has been submitted for Homeland Security funds, Bell said, adding that the county is trying to do everything possible to keep the cost down.
Bell said the sale of the 2-gigahertz spectrum has the potential of interfering with emergency communications as early as this summer.
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Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
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