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The Daviess County Council put a hold on a request that would improve communication with first responders due to cost.
“I believe the need is large enough to justify this $800,000 expense. The end result will be a county-wide communication system that all first responders can use in all areas. The end result is better response and communications for everyone,” said Daviess County Chief Deputy Sheriff Steve Sturgis. “I don’t think you can ever go wrong with improving public safety. That is why this is beneficial.”
The proposal includes an almost $600,000 infrastructure project that would include adding a tower and upgrading the three existing towers. It would also include $267,000 for new radios for volunteer fire departments.
“I am a fan for the safety and security of our citizens, for sure. It would be a good thing, but at what cost? Even if we pay for the infrastructure, someone still has to come up with $267,000 for the radios,” said county council president Tom Schaffer. “I don’t know what the big rush is all of a sudden. We have a good system. What they want to do is expand it by adding a fourth tower. It seems like a lot of money to me, $600,000, to do that.”
Sturgis told the council he believed that between the sheriff’s department, prosecutor’s office and the county’s E911 fund, they could cover about $100,000 of the cost.
A check of available money in E911 accounts indicated that money may not be available.
“We thought we had found $100,000 that we could put toward it for the fire department radios, but after our discussions with the council, we need to go back and see what money is available,” said Sturgis. “I am going to get together with some of the council members and see where the money can come from.”
“Even if they come back and say they can cut out $300,000, I don’t know that we could afford the other $300,000 right now. I think we need to see some of the dust settle on projects we are working on now. We are paying on the annex and the courthouse renovations,” said Schaffer. “There is always something that needs attention. Eventually, something is going to break. Something is going to pop-up.”
The council is expected to continue discussion on the proposed improvements at the next meeting.
In other business, the council appointed Schaffer, vice-president Marilyn McCullough, and Matt Meredith to serve on the wage committee. The committee will investigate and determine where wages should be set during the next budget session.
The council approved a new software for the auditor’s office that will give county departments better access to the auditing system. The cost will be $4,000.
The council appropriated $17,290 for benefits for a new employee in the clerk’s office, spent $4,850 on a new copier, allocated $17,806 in grant funding for Adult Protective Services, approved spending on a $10,000 grant for the Daviess County Health Department, and approved a $2,000 internal transfer for Daviess Superior Court to provide uniforms for the court staff.
