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The county had to declare a temporary local emergency for 911 communications, due to the loss of the primary tower, until a new tower is installed at the primary site. Communications was re-established on temporary sites.
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(TNS) – County supervisors have declared a temporary local emergency so the officials can replace a fallen communications town quickly by skipping the usual procurement advertising and bid process.
Tazewell County Administrator Eric Young spoke Wednesday about replacing an important communications tower that was knocked down Feb. 28.
“Last week Tazewell County lost its primary communications tower on Morris Knob in a windstorm,” Young said. “Communications for law enforcement, emergency medical services and fire protection were re-established on alternate temporary sites. However, the county has declared a temporary local emergency for 911 communications, due to the loss of the primary tower, until a new tower at the primary site may be installed.
Morris Knob’s tower also served Tazewell County’s Wireless Services Authority’s wireless internet systems for Tannersville and Thompson Valley, Young said. The system is operated through a public/private partnership with the company Gigabeam.
Immediately after the storm, Tazewell County focused its resources on re-establishing emergency communications, Young said. However, the county also has been working with Gigabeam to install a new tower on the Morris Knob site.
“Due to the hazards and complexities of the work, installation firms are few and busy,” he said.
Tuesday night the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors authorized Young to use emergency procurement procedures to buy the new tower and have it installed without the usual procurement advertising and bid evaluation process.
The board expressed its desire to restore service as soon as possible, Young said.
Sheriff Brian Hieatt said Wednesday that he was at the 911 center after the tower fell.
“We had a large windstorm and it knocked one of the towers over,” Hieatt said. “This was on the main ones for one section of the county. The day right after that happened, we had people working around the clock to get communications back up. After it happened we didn’t go without any communications.”
Tazewell 911 has full communications, Hieatt said. The Gigabeam service is down in the area it served in Tazewell County.
People who depend on the internet might not have cellphone service until the Gigabeam system, which the company is working on, is fixed. Hieatt said this impacted around 60 customers.
“As far as police, fire and rescue, everything is working fine right now and we’ve got county emergency coordinators that have been working to get a replacement tower and get everything back to full function the way it was,” Hieatt said.
There was rain and wind in Tazewell County about 3 p.m. Feb. 28, but the weather up on Morris Knob included sleet and high winds, Hieatt said.
“When you have some heavy wind and rain here, it’s a whole lot worse up there,” he added.
Major Harold Heatley, who has been working with Tazewell County 911, said the county was working with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and Verizon to bring in a COW — cellular on wheels — a portable communications tower which is usually deployed during natural disasters.
“We are waiting to see if we’re going to be approved for COW and then the board of supervisors approved emergency procurement last night,” Heatley said.
“And we have gone ahead with a contract to begin construction of a new tower and new instruments and hope to have it up as soon as weather allows. This is very weather dependent.”
The inclement weather could break Sunday and work on the tower could begin that day or this coming Monday if parts are available, Heatley said.
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
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©2024 the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, Va.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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