Stand-alone comm center opens on-budget, on time

With a snip of a scissors and lifting of a lever June 13, the completion of the new emergency communications and dispatch center became a historic moment. The center sits beneath the 190 foot monopole tower, on the east edge of Center City, in the County Seat Business Park. It is the new hub for a matrix of communications upgrades; that also included new towers in Almelund and Nessel Township and interfacing with Stacy, North Branch, Rush City, Cambridge, Day and St. Croix Falls ARMER tower sites(Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response, a statewide system). Chisago County Sheriff Rick Duncan told the crowd it has been a “...long road to get to this place.”

Duncan acknowledged retired sheriff Todd Rivard’s efforts throughout the very complicated and obstacle-laden journey. “He really put work into this place,” said Duncan. The research to upgrade the communications capability started in earnest around 2009, although firefighters were noting the need for an upgrade in 2007. The County Board selected the preferred option, out of about four options providing various levels of costs, in February 2010. The clock was ticking, as the FCC put out a mandate that all two-way radios operating below 512 MHz be switched to narrowband by January 2013. See COMM CENTER/5. At the ribbon-cutting Sheriff Duncan thanked county residents, the County Board (previous commissioners and existing), county administrators, the professional staff of architects and construction managers, and the collaborative team effort of all the EMS, police and fire in the county. They worked together to create an emergency communications system for the future.

County information services staff and sheriff’s staff also provided many hours implementing this plan. Craig Stockel, speaking for the Chisago Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, congratulated all responsible for the project. County Commissioner and Board Chair George McMahon said a few words. Wyoming Fire Chief Dennis Berry, who is retiring at the end of this year, told some stories about incidents over his decades of service, when radio communications were an issue. The communications center operations go live June 26. At this time 9-1-1 and dispatch are being provided in a room inside the county jail. Staff are transitioning to this new site. The new comm center contains the only remote master controls in the state, which can also serve as master security system for the county jail, about a mile away. The center took about a year to complete and cost $2.1 million.