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The county commissioners  have asked staff to write a leasing plan to go out for review by local emergency response departments and government entities on the ARMER network.  

ARMER stands for Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response.  As a statewide network it facilitates a comprehensive reworking of systems used by fire, ambulance, law enforcement and others.  The system addresses gaps and malfunctions encountered during the I-35 bridge collapse.  

The now out-dated equipment replacement is underway. If the process is anything like the initial radio contracts— it could generate some debate.  The county board is looking for input on contracts that are needed, in order to be inclusive and cover all the issues.

A statement in the print materials that are being distributed explains the efficiencies in having all the responders on the same agreement. 

Currently there are users, subscribers  and one older agreement that has been renewed under custom terms.  

The entities (elected officials) will choose to buy or lease the emergency communication devices and the effort should include at least one meeting to set everybody on the same path, the county commissioners were advised.

The county emergency network includes 12 ARMER transmission sites. There are costs supporting the budgets that went into developing these sites that go into a per radio fee.  For instance, Chisago County is billed by the statewide network and MNDOT for being in the system and use of state-owned property (towers.). Fees also are tied to the type of radio that the entity has opted to use, “portable” or “mobile.”  Chisago County oversees repair needs and trouble-shooting/radio programming.  It is proposed to include a flat $50 per radio for this service.  

The LEASE costs over and above this flat fee amount  will be worked out among users and subscribers and the county. It is preliminarily estimated at about $728 per year for seven years for the “belt clip” style and $580 per year for a 10 year contract span for vehicle mounted models.

There is an additional “support” charge being looked at in lieu of individual agency charges, which the per radio fee would be something less than the $265 paid in 2025.  This was enough to cover support only and the other expenditures like utilities, system tower space rent, etc. would need to be  budgeted countywide.  Entities can control some costs by limiting the number of radios in their operations.

The goal of having all- county-supplied radios in use—is to move all first responders in the county back to a common radio support model, the commissioners were informed.

In addition to directing staff to develop ARMER contract language, the commissioners also awarded Dresel Contracting with the bid for the County Highway 19 improvements, from County 14 west to a round-about at Lofton.  Site prep includes removal of a residence and there will be soil testing done in the near future.  

                 See ARMER/2 Dresel had a low bid of 11 received, at $7.3 million.

The Board adopted a recording policy 5-0 with Commissioner Jim Swenson participating remotely.  

The recordings will be on the county website.  The public microphone “citizen forum’ section of the agenda is not being included in recordings.

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