Photo courtesy of Botetourt Co.
By Matt de Simone
The Botetourt County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved awarding Motorola Solutions Inc. as the vendor for a new Public Safety Radio System in Botetourt. Additionally, the board approved awarding the request for proposal (RFP) to Motorola and to enter negotiations with the county for an interim agreement. Should county staff negotiate a successful interim agreement, the Emergency Communications Committee (ECC) would subsequently bring the agreement back to the board for approval.
Emergency Systems Communications Manager Matthew Hinkle made a brief presentation during last week’s meeting to review proposal submissions and to provide a scope of county emergency services communication coverage today and what it will look like once it’s expanded.
Hinkle also explained the critical criteria of a radio system including how many “neighbors” the county is able to communicate with at the moment. He showed a map of existing coverage that included coverage deficiencies in Eagle Rock, Oriskany, Catawba Valley, Blue Ridge, and Arcadia.
In August 2021, Fire & EMS Chief Jason Ferguson presented the board with a proposal expanding the county’s emergency communications system, explaining that the county’s outdated analog system of communication was becoming problematic in communicating with neighboring localities.
Hinkle explained the emergency services will remain using the four existing tower sites in Botetourt and will add three new sites – two that are currently privately owned and a third in Catawba that will be built up from scratch. The Iron Gate site will cover the Rt. 220 corridor, Blue Ridge will cover the Rt. 460 corridor and deficiencies, and Catawba will handle Carvins Cove, Catawba Valley, and the Appalachian Trail.
Oriskany and Arcadia currently have coverage deficiencies as well. Hinkle explained their current limiting factors.
“The biggest limiting factor with coverage is not so much being able to hear from the towers or the towers out to the first responder,” Hinkle said. “It’s from the first responder talking back into the tower… What we’ve come up with is using a vehicle repeater system.”
Hinkle explained that in the area where the portable radio isn’t able to talk back into the system, it will be able to talk on another frequency to a repeater box that will then transfer to a mobile device, which transmits at a much higher power. He shared that the repeater solution will achieve 95% coverage countywide.
In terms of interoperability, the new system will tie into the Roanoke Valley radio system. County emergency systems will also have operability with Rockbridge, Alleghany, Bedford, and Craig Counties. Currently, the old system is “on an island,” according to Hinkle. With the new system, Botetourt will be able to talk with “everybody.”
According to the county’s notes found in the meeting agenda, Botetourt County received two proposal submissions on April 6. The two vendors that proffered offers were the L3Harris Corporation and Motorola Solutions Inc.
A thorough review of the Public Safety Radio system proposals was completed by the ECC in consultation with the county’s third-party consultant MorCom International Inc. The ECC consists of Hinkle, Ferguson, Emergency Manager Daniel Murray, Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Boone, Captain Scott Gathje, and Morcom Consultant Manual Ojeda. The committee met earlier this month and scored the vendors. Motorola scored higher that L3Harris Technologies.
The proposed system costs came in under the initial expectations with funding to be determined; potentially with a mix of Capex and financing. This project’s completion date is currently set for spring-summer 2025.
