Construction on the Carroll County jail continues to move ahead with a projected completion date months away, but the Carroll County Board of Supervisors has been notified the construction has created an issue with another county project, the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System (ISICS). Communications Supervisor and 911 Coordinator, Jason Hoffman explains.
Hoffman says they began investigating the problem and options available for a solution. They received preliminary quotes on a distributed antenna system (DAS) connected to a bi-directional amplifier to ensure connectivity in the building. The process did involve hands-on testing as well as a review of the building schematics for the existing courthouse and the new jail.
Updated totals came in at just under $60,000 from First Wireless and at slightly over $90,000 from Pierson Wireless. Hoffman says they also explored funding options and identified a radio system contingency in his department budget that would cover about half of the First Wireless cost and there is about $21,000 left in the ISICS budget because a DC power plant was not needed at one tower site. This would leave $10,000 left to cover the lowest bid, and they are asking the board to approve an allocation. Supervisor Dean Schettler was assured that using the contingency from the communications budget would not result in delays or cancellation of any other projects and that the fund was created for issues such as this. ISICS consultant, Rey Freeman, says the problem is not rare.
However, the Motorola plan did not include this system. Sheriff, Ken Pingrey, says there may be contingency funds in the jail project budget to help cover the extra expense and Auditor, Kourtney Irlbeck, adds they should be able to allocate from the next fiscal year’s budget to help as well. The board accepted the First Wireless bid on a unanimous vote.
