LeeComm bracing for equipment upgrades

LEE COUNTY – Lee County residents could be looking to shoulder the burden of $5 million in radio upgrades for first responders.
Tony Keefe, the director of LeeComm, told Supervisors on Tuesday morning the digital upgrade that took place eight years ago is now in need of an upgrade by Motorola. Keefe presented Supervisors with a 102-page proposal from Motorola on the system improvements.
The county made the switch to digital radios through Motorola in 2008.
“I read through about 8% of it and most of it is what we’re upgrading or what needs upgrades and some of the components of that,” he said.
Keefe brought two Motorola reps with him for the presentation.
“When we built our radio project in 2018, it was already through its lifecycle. Motorola nationwide is about to do a refresh on their entire system and making enhancements, including a more cloud-based version,” he said.
The system that was rolled out back then cost the county $6.9 million in essential services levy dollars.
“As part of that upgrade, we need to upgrade our towers at the same time,” Keefe said.
He said LeeComm will need to upgrade four of their own towers as part of the process.
Motorola’s Sales Manager for Iowa, Fran Cueva, outlined the program to the county.
Cueva said there are components in the county’s system through Motorola that will see end of life in 2031-32.
He said three components, including prime sites, consoles, and base radios which are the equipment at the towers themselves. He said subscriber radios, which are on the bodies of first responders, have gone through some upgrades including service, are also a part of the transition.
Keefe said the problem in the initial rollout is that the county, through the essential services levy, bought 400 radios at one time and all of those could go black at similar times. He said those radios are about $115 each so, individually, it’s going to be about $46,000 to replace them. Keefe said he asked Motorola to spec out an extra tower that would likely be located in Van Buren County to help service Croton and Turkey Run on the county’s south side.
He said LeeComm and the county need to get to a position of planning instead of reacting to problems.
Keefe said he didn’t think Van Buren County or its communities are in financial shape to help with the costs of a $2 million tower, and he didn’t think it was appropriate for Lee County to absorb the costs.
“But we did add about 51 subscribers to the project to hopefully change out some of our volunteer fire department radios because the radios they use now are no longer produced by Motorola,” Keefe said.

The new radios carry an LTE system that is no longer dependent on hitting a radio tower site because they can use a wifi signal to bridge communications back to dispatch in the event cellular isn't working.
Keefe said LeeComm is also outgrowing its current space.
The funds to upgrade the radio system would come from an essential services bond that would be administered through the county’s debt service budget line, Keefe said.
He said he isn’t sure whether or not voters can petition against an essential county purpose ballot issue. Generally speaking, Iowa Code 331.443  does not establish a pre-election petition process for essential purpose bonds as long as the county follows proper protocols in issuing the bonds. The code 331.443(2) also doesn’t require the approval of voters. However, voters can take the issue to district court within 15 days after board action.
“We probably need to start looking for a new place to house LeeComm,” he said.
“I know the sheriff would attest that he could probably use that room and he’s mentioned a couple things he’d like to do with that space. LeeComm needs to be its own separate agency. Right now, people associate us with the sheriff’s department, and as county employees. But that’s not the case. We’re governed by our own board."
Keefe said he looked at wrapping the costs of moving out of the current location at the sheriff’s office into the total project cost. He said there are multiple options and locations available.
“Obviously, I think it makes most sense to move further north out of the Montrose area due to continued talks of legislation involving consolidation,” he said.
He said as those conversations continue at the state level, he’s staying hyper aware of the county having to move to another agency, he’d rather have another dispatch agency come to Lee County.
“Part of that is selfish. I live in Lee County and I want to stay here, but the reality is eventually we’re going to have to consolidate with another agency. I would rather be in the position to move that consolidation into us rather than going to another jurisdiction,” Keefe said.
He said the other dispatch agencies around Lee County have smaller footprints and it makes sense to consolidate toward a larger agency.
LeeComm is currently less than 1,000 square feet for both staff and consoles. They also use part of the sheriff’s server room. Keefe said that room is next to a water heater for the jail, so if there’s ever a leak there, it could cause significant downtime for the county.
Keefe said EMS is also running out of room at the Donnellson facility. We could repurpose their building if they needed to add bigger bays to a newer building on the same property,” he said. He said there are other viable locations around Houghton and Fort Madison.
“LeeComm doesn’t have a whole lot of money, so we’re not looking at buying real estate for a building, or purchase a building. But, as far as costs of this, I have no idea.”
He said the radio project funds would come through an essential services bond and, if the board of supervisors want that to move forward, the cost of a new facility could be wrapped into a total project. Keefe said he would need to put together a cost estimate for the entire project at that point.
“We could bond as a PSAP board, but with the uncertainty of 9-1-1 funding, I don’t know if I would take that risk. I would advise them not to take that risk at the PSAP level,” Keefe said.
He was referencing a move last year that allowed the state to syphon off 9-1-1 service fees from local PSAP boards to help prop up lagging funding at the state level.