- November 15, 2024
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Palm Coast’s mayor has appealed to the head to the County Commission and asked that the City Council and the County Commission — as well as the elected bodies of Flagler Beach, Bunnell, Beverly Beach and Marineland — meet directly about planned upgrades to the countywide emergency radio system.
“Just as all personnel from different agencies should be able to communicate, I am asking to open the channels of communication among elected officials to discuss the future of a public safety radio system,” Mayor Jon Netts wrote in the two-page Feb. 26 letter emailed to County Commission Chairwoman Barbara Revels. “I have several unanswered questions. The answers to these questions are vital to the planning efforts of the Palm Coast City Council.”
The letter was copied to the Palm Coast City Council, the Flagler County Commission, Flagler Beach Mayor Linda Provencher, Bunnell Mayor Catherine Robinson, Beverly Beach Mayor Steve Emmett and Marineland Mayor Leslie Babonis.
The Palm Coast City Council and the Flagler County Commission have spoken about the upgrade at their respective meetings, but have not met jointly.
But there is information city officials need to know now to begin planning for the change, Netts wrote. He emphasizing the urgency of the request, punctuating the letter with the repeated use of the word “now” in all capital letters.
The upgrade isn’t optional. The county’s current 800 MHz system — on which the city of Palm Coast and other cities in the county, as well as the Sheriff’s Office, depend — will be unsupported by the manufacturer at the end of 2017. The county plans to roll out a new, digital system in 2020, after sending out request for proposal in the 2017-2018 fiscal years and building new towers in 2018-2019.
But city officials have questioned that timeline, expressing concern about the length of the gap between the time when the system would be unsupported and when the county would have a new one. County officials have said the county has a contact with its provider to maintain the system in the interim.
Netts wrote that despite speaking with former Flagler County public safety emergency manager Kevin Guthrie before Guthrie left to take another position in Polk County last week, Netts still had unanswered questions about the upgrade.
One pertained to the extent of emergency radio coverage — first responders’ ability to communicate in remote places or from indoor locations — that the upgrade would entail.
Getting the highest degree of coverage would mean either installing expensive bidirectional amplifiers on high buildings to amplify existing towers’ radio signals, or building more towers. And there would either have to be a lot of short ones — perhaps 10-15 — or they would have to be very high, like the large lattice communications tower on U.S. 1 near the forestry station.
To know how many towers are needed and what height, Guthrie said, the county will have to take one of two approaches: It can either decide how much it wants to spend and then how to get the best system for that price; or, it can determine what degree of coverage it wants and then figure out how to pay for it.
A system with high coverage —like the one in St. Johns County, which has about 97% radio coverage a foot off the ground inside reinforced concrete buildings, Guthrie said — might require Flagler County to put at least one 350-foot lattice tower in populated areas in the city of Palm Coast.
The Palm Coast City Council would have to approve those towers, which could be tough.
“Just as Flagler County experienced pushback from residents against proposed radio tower sites in the County, I am concerned that Palm Coast may experience similar resistance if additional radio towers are required within our City limits,” Netts wrote. “Palm Coast needs to begin planning, NOW, for such anticipated needs.”
The city also needs to know about the potential cost difference between a system with many small towers and a system with a few larger ones, Netts wrote, as well as what kind of radios the new system will be compatible with.
“The City has an ongoing five- and ten-year capital improvement plan that allows us to prepare for important capital projects without issuing debt,” he wrote. “We need a specific plan, NOW, to deal with the costs and timing of this radio upgrade to assure our future financial obligations will be fully funded.”
The city also needs to know, Netts wrote, if it will be expected to contribute money for any user capacity increases associated with the new system.
“I believe the best way to answer these and other questions is to convene meetings, NOW, involving ALL participants in the new system. Certainly, as users of the system, you would want our input on the fundamental issues such as the new system standard, etc. Once this is determined, the other questions can be properly answered. I am writing to ask for your assistance in helping us to get answers in a timely manner so that Palm Coast can begin planning appropriately. I am requesting a series of meetings between the Board of County Commissioners and the cities within Flagler County to discuss these issues.”

