New radio system up and working
Network links vast areas of Montana
Using only a six-watt handheld radio, Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan on Thursday called across the state to speak with Hill County Undersheriff Jamie Ross in Havre.
The radio cackled to life as Meehan raised Ross, who was in another building more than 200 miles away.
Youre loud and clear, Ross replied. Like youre in downtown Havre.
As additional elements of a new radio communications network come online, law enforcement officers from across northern Montana will be able to communicate with similar ease. Personnel from local, tribal, state, and federal public-safety agencies will be connected to each other by the small personal radios attached to their belts.
Thursdays test of the new system, which uses a high-capacity microwave network to provide state-of-the-art digital voice and data communications, was hailed as by officials as a success for the Northern Tier Interoperability Consortium.
Founded in 2004 by the 12 counties and four Indian reservations of northern Montana, the consortium was tasked with building a consolidated communications network between levels of government and across jurisdictions.
This is going to enhance… public safety, said Glacier County Sheriff and Northern Tier Interoperability Consortium Chairman Wayne Dusterhoff.
The consortium is one of nine such regional partnerships that make up the statewide Interoperability Montana project.
Eventually, the network will cover the entire state, said Flathead County Commissioner Joe Brenneman, who also serves on Interoperability Montanas governing body. We expect to have more than 100 tower sites by the end of the project.
Locally, towers already have been planned or installed on Big Mountain, the water tower in Kalispell, near Jette Hill in Lake County, and on Blue, King, and Pinkham mountains in Lincoln County.
The new system will provide for good communication among local responding agencies and agencies across vast areas of the state, Meehan said.
Eight of the 17 trunked communications sites in northern Montana are on line and undergoing coverage testing.
Testing on the remaining sites will begin before year-end, Brenneman said. An additional 40-some sites are being worked on around the rest of the state.
Thursdays test call between Meehan and Ross was routed through a tower near Helena in Lewis and Clark County, where the first phase of the Interoperability Montana project went into operation in 2005. User agencies then were added until interoperability became countywide in summer 2006.
Earlier this month, a test call similar to the one between Meehan and Ross was successfully conducted between Lewis and Clark and Hill counties.
Everyone recognizes that public and responder safety is a top priority, and the ability to communicate seamlessly and effectively is vital to achieving the goal of public safety, Brenneman said.
About $14 million already has been spent in northern Montana on the new radio communications network, according to Elizabeth Wing Spooner, the special projects coordinator for the state Public Safety Services Bureau.
Infrastructure funded includes microwave towers, communication relays, generators and equipment shelters. Public safety agencies also have to purchase new radios compatible with the digital and encrypted system.
Statewide, the Interoperability Montana project is expected to cost $150 million.
Funding for the project has come from more than 24 different sources, including grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Community Oriented Policing Services, the Federal Emergency Management Agencys Assistance to Firefighters fund, and state and local governments.
In 2007, the Montana Public Safety Services Bureau was budgeted $12 million to improve police communications in northern Montana, $3.5 million of which was allocated by the Legislature.
These projects are not going to be cheap; theyre going to be costly, said Dusterhoff, adding that officials dont want the brunt of the cost to fall on local governments. Is it going to cost you something? Yes. But are you going to get something out of it? Yes.
In September 2007, the Northern Tier Interoperability Consortium signed a deal to lease infrastructure owned by the BNSF Railway along U.S. 2 near West Glacier, where distance and geography can make radio coverage spotty.
The railroad agreed to:
. Serve as the manager for the Big Mountain communication site as authorities upgrade the antenna there.
. Supply access, towers, generators, and equipment shelters at the Blue, King, and Pinkham Mountain communication sites in Lincoln County.
. Provide coverage on U.S. 2 below Glacier National Park by building between five and seven radio towers connected to the fiber-optic lines that run alongside the companys railroad tracks.
In return for use of its telecommunication services, the railroad will receive $500,000 from the state over five years.
Both railroad and state officials called that price a substantially discounted rate.
For Flathead County Sheriffs deputies patrolling the 40 miles of U.S. 2 where radio coverage is spotty to nonexistent, the deal meant the ability to talk to dispatchers, request resources, check for warrants and return status checks, said Flathead County Undersheriff Pete Wingert.
Additional microwave or relay towers could further reduce dead spots caused by topography.
Thats the ultimate goal here, to make the county 100 percent covered, Meehan said.
Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com