Commissioners decide to withhold payment;
It?s an attempt to open a better channel of communication, and there are no electronic components involved. Members of the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners want a meeting with State Electronics, the company hired to keep the radio system in the county operating properly, to further discuss what?s been working and not working in regard to radio equipment. Some commissioners say they are disappointed with the service they?ve been receiving. ?There have been times when we?ve tried to get ahold of State Electronics and they just ignore us,? said commissioner Don Field.
MOTIONS WERE passed to withhold two bills: one for $11,500 that covers the cost of a new repeater in Onaway, and a quarterly payment of $960. The board also decided to decline a discount of $357 from the company until a meeting takes place. A letter, along with a copy of a resolution from the local Michigan Township Association, insisting the radio problems cease to exist, were to be sent to State Electronics as well.
?This is a bill for $11,500, and we don?t know if it works yet,? said commissioner Bob Schell. ?Why are we in such a rush to pay it?? The commissioners gave the company until August 13 to set something up.
?WE FOUND in the past that paying doesn?t get us any service,? Schell said. ?Maybe not paying them until it works might get us a little better service.? Commissioner Mike Darga said something needs to be done. He has talked to an officer who wasn?t able to communicate with the dispatcher when he left his vehicle. The officer had to give an approximate time he would be back in his vehicle.
Darga said it was important that something be done and that the county ?start stepping on these guys.? The 800 megahertz system on the state police towers is not favored by the townships, who want 100 percent coverage, but another option suggested was to go back to the old system, which went through phone lines, because it was more reliable. The new system was supposed to be better, chairman Allan Bruder said.
STATE ELECTRONICS has been well aware of the radio problems in Presque Isle and have been working with authorities to resolve these problems, according to a statement from a company official. A meeting was set for Tuesday between representatives of State Electronics and Presque Isle County to discuss the problem and ways to make the radio system more reliable. Information was not available before press time. It?s unclear if the commissioners knew of the meeting before passing the motions.
Mike Wriggelsworth says the problems result from two lightning strikes to the tower at the sheriff?s department within the last two years. As a result of these lightning strikes, the dispatch console positions in the 911 center have been rendered ?unreliable.?
?State Electronics has informed authorities that the unreliable consoles needed to be replaced, rather than fixing severely damaged equipment,? Wriggelsworth said.
?State Electronics was told to fix the unreliable consoles, opposed to replacing them. This was done, however, to this day the console positions are still deemed unreliable.? The commissioners have been told by their insurance carrier that they no longer were accepting any claims for the lightning strikes.
THE STATEMENT further says the phone lines used to run the sheriff?s department 911 to the repeater tower site, were continually going down for hours and days. ?The unfortunate
A recommendation was made to replace the phone lines with control stations at 911, which was done, but since the unreliable consoles control the control stations, more problems existed. ?Numerous suggestions were made to have these phone lines replaced, but are still in use,? Wriggelsworth said.
?State Electronics has worked very hard to remedy the problems with Presque Isle County and have worked closely with authorities to ensure that everything that can be done is done,? he said.
As of last Friday, undersheriff Bob Paschke said the Onaway repeater was ?working better.? Commissioner Gary Wozniak says the Onaway repeater will not solve the entire problem, as additional repeaters are needed in Posen and Presque Isle.