Consultant to help in upgrading Calhoun County's emergency radio system

By Nathan Solheim
Assistant Metro Editor
01-28-2005

Calhoun County Commissioners have decided to hire a consultant to help oversee upgrades to the county’s 800-megahertz radio system. The commission took bids for the service during its meeting Thursday and hopes to award the contract by the end of February. Calhoun County’s first responders all have access to the special 800-megahertz radio system that allows them to communicate during an emergency. The system also activates tone-alert radios and sirens during a chemical weapons accident or other emergencies. The consultant will help award bids for the new system, which county emergency management officials said is expected to cost between $20 million and $30 million. The consultant also will help manage the contractor installing the system. “They’ll be another set of eyes,” said Dan Long, director of the Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency. Five consultants submitted bids, ranging from $150,000 to $700,000. Thursday’s move was the first in a long process to bid out the work associated with upgrading the system. The county has $20 million from the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program to spend on the upgrades and could have purchased the equipment late last year, using a state bid list. However, internal pressure from some county commissioners moved the purchase toward a competitive bid process. Because the county decided to bid the project, the expected completion date has been delayed four to six months. The original completion date was September 2006. Calhoun County Commission Chairman Eli Henderson said hiring a consultant is a necessary part of the process. “It’s sad you have to pay a couple of hundred thousand dollars to someone to show us how to spend the $20 million from the federal government,” Henderson said. “But you have to take out the politics.” In other business, the commission appointed Echols Bryant to the Calhoun County Water and Fire Protection Authority. The next Calhoun County Commission meeting will be 10 a.m. Feb. 10 at the county administration building.

About Nathan Solheim

Assistant Metro Editor Nathan Solheim is Minnesota native and a University of Georgia graduate.