An Open House held Nov. 17th at the Greene County Public Service Campus to celebrate the new, digital Greene County radio system was a big success, with over 70 people in attendance. Attendees ranged came from Greene County’s public safety agencies, county government, constitutionally elected officials, neighboring counties, state and national legislative leaders, and other public safety partners throughout the region and state. For event photos, visit our Facebook event album by clicking here.
“It’s remarkable. The new radio system is a proud accomplishment for Greene County and our partners in the Oconee Area Radio System (OARS) project – Walton and Oconee counties,” said Board of Commissioners Chairman Dene Channell. “We could not have done it without the federal grant funding or SPLOST monies either.”
The new radio system technically cost $5.3 million, but hardly any of that total cost ultimately came from the General Fund. The project
was mostly paid for with a combination of $3 million in Department of Homeland Security grant monies (secured by GEMA), $2 million from the voter-approved 2008 SPLOST referendum, and money from the 911 Fund.
On top of Greene County public safety employees and volunteers that were in attendance, many more individuals were in attendance from Walton County, Oconee County, Morgan County, City of Madison, Putnam County, Baldwin County, City of Milledgeville, Athens/Clarke County, Georgia Emergency Management Agency, Habersham County, Banks County, AT&T, Motorola Solutions, Inc., Mobile Communications, and Giddens Consulting.
State Representative Mickey Channell and State Senator Johnny Grant were both in attendance, along with representatives from the offices of Representative Paul Broun, Senator Johnny Isakson, and Senator Saxby Chambliss.
GEMA Director Charley English gave the keynote address, and other speeches were delivered by OARS Chair Wendra Williams, Greene County 911 Director Brian Burgamy, Motorola’s George Thames, and County Manager and EMA Director Byron Lombard.
The new Greene County radio system ties into the Oconee Area Radio System, based in Walton County. The new system dramatically improves coverage, improves interoperability with other counties and state agencies, creates redundancy, encrypts radio communications, tracks radio users’ locations via radio towers, enables 911 staff to construct better timelines of incidents, and eliminates the congestion that often results from analog communications. The local Greene County agencies using the new radio system include EMS, EMA, the Sheriff’s Office, Greensboro Police, Union Point Police, the nine Greene County fire departments, Greene County Public Works, and Greensboro Public Works.
“We’re very excited about the new radio system and its potential for growth,” said County Manager Byron Lombard. “The number of users of the system will only grow, and as that happens, it will only improve communications between different agencies. There are no concerns about capacity or overtaxing the system.”
In a few years, as other counties build out their digital, trunked radio systems, Greene County officials hope to have coverage throughout the state of Georgia so no one has to lose touch with Greene County’s 911 Center just because they cross county lines.
After the event, those in attendance toured Greene County’s 911 Center and surrounding facilties before eating lunch prepared by Gloria Slaughter with the Washington Grass Inn (courtesy of Motorola).