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Contents of this page: |
For at least ten years, Tompkins County has known that it would need to rebuild or replace its aging public safety communications system – the radio network used by first-responders (fire, police, and emergency medical technicians). The current system was pieced together over a period of years in the mid-1970s and is made up of several independent systems that provide voice, paging, and data communications for public safety workers. Some elements of the system date to the 1950s.
The system incorporates dozens of isolated radio frequencies, many of which are incompatible and do not allow public safety responders from different agencies to directly talk to each other – a notable drawback to efficient emergency response. Much of the equipment used for voice communications is outmoded. Replacement equipment is no longer manufactured, and replacement parts are cannibalized from a dwindling second-hand supply.
The system’s transmission sites, which are located around the county, vary in their continued usability and condition. Some tower sites are sturdy but makeshift structures, and the current configuration of sites provides only about 65 percent geographic coverage. Recent actions by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to narrow bandwidths to accommodate additional users have caused increasing signal interference on the County’s analog system.
Overall, the system’s infrastructure, equipment, and technology is becoming increasingly obsolete and prone to failure. The first-responder community has been very clear in expressing its concerns about a serious failure, or a missed communication in a crucial situation that would compromise the safety of a worker or the public.
The County Legislature recognized the need and authorized extensive study of the options. In May, 2002, the County released a request for proposals for a company to build the system it needs. Motorola, Inc. was the only vendor to respond with a relevant proposal. The County is negotiating with Motorola for a contract to build the proposed system. The County anticipates completion of a satisfactory agreement with Motorola by December, 2005.
Tompkins County’s proposed rebuild of its 35-year-old public safety communications system will provide 95 percent reliability in voice communications for public safety responders – fire, police, emergency medical technicians – in approximately 94 percent of the geographic area of the county. This means that 95 times out of 100, a first responder will have success in completing a voice-activated radio call, and that a hand-held portable radio will work in about 94 percent of the geographic area, including roadways. The coverage and reliability will be guaranteed by the vendor of the system. Due to the rugged terrain in parts of the county and the nature of radio signals, which can be blocked by or reflected from dense materials, it is impractical and uneconomical to try to attain 100 percent coverage or reliability.
The system the County has proposed, and that is now (July – November, 2005) going through a full environmental review, is a TEN-SITE, DIGITAL, INTEROPERABLE, TRUNKED 800-MHz, SIMULCAST LAND MOBILE RADIO (LMR) SYSTEM that uses MICROWAVE RADIO links between towers. Taking those terms one at a time:
Each of the new transmission towers in the proposed system is expected to be less than 200 feet in height, which means none will require lighting. (Lighting is required for towers 200 feet and taller.) As currently proposed, the new towers will be free-standing constructions, without guy wires. In the unlikely case of structural failure or damage, the towers will be designed to collapse in on themselves rather than falling sideways to their full length. Each tower will have a small shelter at its base to house equipment and an emergency generator. Except for a periodic short test, the generator would operate only in the case of a power outage. Microwave dish antennae, proposed to be of 4 feet or 6 feet in diameter, will be mounted on the towers.
A new paging system for first responders is included in the project. A mobile data capability, to allow police agencies to access information from computer terminals in vehicles, is also being developed and will be incorporated into the system. Subscribers, that is, the end users of the system – the firefighters, police officers, Sheriff’s deputies, emergency medical technicians, and others who use the system for everyday and emergency communications – will need replacement equipment to access the new technology.
The Public Safety Communications System (PSCS) has been estimated to cost $15 million to $20 million. The exact cost is not known yet, but the system rebuild is likely to be the most expensive capital improvement project Tompkins County has ever undertaken. The County will bond for most of the cost of the system. The infrastructure, such as towers, equipment shelters, and site work will be bonded for 20 years. Various types of equipment will be bonded for up to 10 years commensurate with the useful lifespan of the technology and hardware. Two public safety grants relating to the project, of approximately $500,000 each, have been received through the efforts of U.S. Congressmen Maurice Hinchey and Sherwood Boehlert.
The need to build a consolidated 911 dispatch center coincided with the planning and development of the Public Safety Communications System. Through inter-agency cooperation, the consolidation of emergency dispatch brought together local fire, police, and other emergency dispatchers in one location and under one authority. The County rolled the construction of a new Emergency Response Center and a transmission tower at the site into what became Phase I of the larger countywide project. The Emergency Response Center, which is also used for training and meetings, will serve as the County’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) when needed. The Center opened in August 2004.
Also included in Phase I is a replacement tower on South Hill in the Town of Ithaca. The County discussed its public safety needs with Ithaca College, which uses a tower on its campus to broadcast a signal from the campus radio station, WICB FM. Both parties agreed that a new tower on the campus could serve WICB and the County’s needs, as well support the NOAA National Weather Service transmitter that is currently mounted on the existing structure. The County obtained permission from the college to build a self-supporting 195-foot tower on the IC campus, a short distance from the existing guyed 150-foot tower. The County and the Town of Ithaca worked cooperatively in the permitting process, and the Town granted a zoning variance for the tower structure to be built. Ithaca College has donated the land.
Development of the South Hill site is proceeding separately from the proposed build-out of rest of the Public Safety Communication System. The site, while part of the proposed new system, was reviewed and approved separately and will not be specifically addressed in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).
Phase II of the project, currently underway, includes finalizing the design of the proposed system, completing the required environmental review, and negotiating and implementing a contract with Motorola, Inc. for construction and testing of the system.
The environmental review process for the system is under way. As part of the planning, design, and review process for the proposed system, the County will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) regulations.
ENSR International – an environmental consulting firm with local offices in Syracuse, Albany, and Rochester – has been contracted to study aspects of the system and transmission sites that could affect the surrounding environment and community character. ENSR staff are working to evaluate the potential impacts of the system’s infrastructure and technology on the environment and, if necessary, will recommend mitigation measures. The results of the study will be published as the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and will be made available for public comment.
Barring unforeseen delays, the County is planning to release the DEIS on October 19, 2005, marking the start of the 30-day public comment period. A PUBLIC INFORMATION SESSION is tentatively scheduled for the evening of October 19, 5 – 8 pm, in the Borg Warner Room of the Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca. The session will include an overview of the Public Safety Communication System, including geographic locations of towers, and an explanation of how to access and comment on the DEIS.
NOTE: Official public comment on the DEIS cannot be accepted at the October 19 meeting, which is for information only. Guidelines for written and spoken public comment will be provided at that time. A PUBLIC HEARING on the DEIS is tentatively scheduled for November 3, 2005.
The team overseeing the project plans to have the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) ready for approval by the County Legislature before the end of this year.
South Hill: In June 2004, the County adopted a negative declaration of environmental impact for rebuilding of the South Hill tower. In accordance with SEQR regulations, a long Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) and a Visual Impact EAF were completed and are on file in the Legislature office. The South Hill site, while one of the ten in the proposed new system, was approved separately and will not be included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the system as a whole.
New York State has been pursuing its own radio communications system, the Statewide Wireless Network (SWN), in the same time period the County has been developing its proposed system. Officials from the County and the state’s Office for Technology (NYS OFT) met several times to discuss possible ways to share infrastructure and to assure compatible technologies that would allow the two systems to dovetail efficiently. The state’s timetable for rolling out the SWN is much longer than the County’s more urgent needs. Once it became clear that the state’s system would not arrive in Tompkins County for several years, the County decided to proceed with building its own much-needed system. A Memorandum of Understanding with NYS OFT states that both parties wish to share resources as much as possible, when reasonable occasions arise.
The Communications Capital Committee was formed in the summer of 1999 to oversee several projects, including consolidation of 911 dispatch operations, the relocation from the Ithaca waterfront of a state Department of Transportation facility, and the Public Safety Communications System (PSCS). This committee, informally known as ComCap, was chaired for several years by County Legislator Barbara Blanchard; Legislator Peter Penniman was chair in 2003 and 2004. The ComCap Committee’s work came to an end in 2004 when all of the projects and policies were resolved or – in the case of the PSCS – had moved to a technical stage that a staff team and technical consultants would handle. The minutes of the ComCap Committee contain much of the history of the development of the Public Safety Communications System. The project is now overseen by the Public Safety Committee.
In 2000, the County contracted with the New York State Technology Enterprise Corporation (NYSTEC) – a private, not-for-profit engineering firm based in Rome NY – to study the existing and proposed countywide emergency communications system. The report, issued in 2001, contains information that helped the County make decisions on how to proceed with the Public Safety Communications System. To view the NYSTEC report, go to Evaluation Documents on this website.