The Clarke County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 4 approved 3-0 an agreement with Motorola Solutions for a Clarke County ISICS (Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System) site, as well as different mobile video and radio equipment.
A discussion regarding ISICS in the county was held last December. At the time, Clarke County Emergency Management Coordinator Byron Jimmerson gave a brief background on the communications history of Clarke County. The county was for a time on an analog radio system, but after FCC narrowbanding cut radio frequencies in half, they looked into other options. Law enforcement agencies went to the MOTOTRBO system, while fire and EMS did not, nor did the state of Iowa as a whole. While the system worked well, Jimmerson said it was not designed as a public safety radio system.
Then, Iowa invested millions of dollars towards ISICS infrastructure, towers and maintenance around the state, making coverage from car radios about 95%. State towers were not required in every county, and Clarke County does not have one. With such towers in neighboring counties, radios in Clarke County were able to use those towers. Radios were procured that worked on the ISICS system, however limitations were found in buildings around town. Thus began the need to plan for Clarke County’s own tower.
“This will be phase two to complete the project,” said Jimmerson at Monday’s meeting.
When the tower at the law enforcement building blew down due to heavy winds in July, it left Osceola using their backup tower south of Walmart for fire and storm center paging; there is no other option currently available for those calls. Jimmerson was able to put together a proposal package with Motorola that would include a tower and an ISICS site, to be located where the former tower was at the law enforcement center. The proposal also includes 10 in-car cameras and 10 body cameras to be worn by the sheriff’s office, along with nine APX900 and 25 APX8500 radios for secondary roads.
By building a 210-foot tower at the law enforcement center, it will allow the county to stop paying rent on the tower south of Walmart, reduce microwave length and have everything on the generator at the station. The cost for the project, which is estimated to take about 18 months, is $1,710,364. A six-year, prorated warranty will come in at $400,545.
As Motorola won the state bid in 2015 to construct and maintain the ISICS towers, by using their services, there is no need to find a different company to do things such as build cores and service areas. Representatives for Motorola said that one doesn’t have to buy Motorola equipment to use the ISICS system, however, anyone wanting to add coverage to the ISICS system does have to use Motorola equipment.
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The supervisors held two public hearings Nov. 4 to discuss purchasing two, 2025 CAT Patrol motor graders. One was proposed to be purchased with a loan agreement from American State Bank in the amount of $321,087.88, and will be repaid over five years. The other was to be purchased using American Rescue Plan Act funds, in the amount of $355,787.88. There are also two older machines that will be traded in.
After much discussion during the first public hearing regarding the lifespan and use of motor graders, the one to be purchased with a loan was approved 3-0. Using ARPA funds to purchase the second one was also approved 3-0.