OSWEGO - The Oswego County Legislature on Thursday began the regulatory review process for upgrading the county’s emergency radio communications equipment, bringing a new communications system one step closer to reality.

The County Legislature unanimously passed a resolution Nov. 12 requesting permission from the state Department of Environmental Conservation to act as the lead agency in the required State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) procedure.

After meeting with emergency responders and gathering input from affected parties for many months, the E-911 staff is close to finalizing plans for a new system. Thursday’s vote is the first stage of the environmental review process.

“We’ve come to a point now where we are close to completing the design process. We are looking at a radio system that will replace our deteriorating infrastructure, meet critical needs in the county, and take us into the future with instant and secure communications capabilities,” said County Legislator Paul Santore (District 16, Oswego), chairman of the Legislature’s Public Safety and Emergency Services Committee. “The Legislature’s action on Thursday is the culmination of a great deal of work by 911 Program Director Mike Allen, Motorola, the legislative committees, and the county staff. Although there are more steps that we have to go through, we have officially started the process of procuring a state-of-the art mobile radio system.”

County Legislature Chairman Barry Leemann (District 4 – Amboy) said the current radio system is becoming obsolete and has not provided adequate coverage in all areas of the county. The county will be required by the federal government to upgrade its radio frequency from 800 MHz, and staff is working to design a new system that provides better coverage of portable radios throughout the county.
 
“It is critical that our emergency responders have the ability to communicate with each other in the rural areas as well as the cities,”
said Leemann.

The next steps in the process will be to determine the final design, wrap up negotiations to reduce costs, and issue bonds for the project.