The Region I Homeland Security Oversight Committee passed a resolution in support of state funding for implementing the state’s new interoperability plan, during its regular quarterly meeting April 17 in St. James.
During the meeting, committee members learned that that House Bill 2008, which includes funding to start implementing the plan, had met some legislative opposition in committee.
The Department of Public Safety — Homeland Security has developed a plan for upgrading the state’s antiquated emergency communication system with the help of a statewide advisory committee and a communications engineering company.
The plan calls for up to 150 new tower sites throughout Missouri to achieve 95 percent statewide coverage and uses interoperability software that will permit public safety agencies at the state and local level to communicate with one another.
The Plan accommodates VHF in rural areas and 700/800 MHz in urban areas and maximizes statewide interoperability.
The Department of Public Safety has proposed a lease-purchase contract to build the new interoperability network while paying for it using tax-exempt financing over the next decade. House Bill 2008 is the appropriation bill for the Department of Public Safety, where additional funds has been requested to start implementing the interoperability plan and to provide matching funds for a one-time federal interoperability grant.
Some legislators are concerned that the purchase of interoperability infrastructure is not being publicly bid and that interoperability funds are not being shared with local jurisdictions, such cities and counties.
“We fully recognize the concerns of our legislators regarding the purchase of interoperability infrastructure being put out properly for public bid. We also recognize the potential of interoperability funds not being shared with the local jurisdictions that will ultimately benefit from such a system,” said Paul Rueff of Rolla, Chair of Region I HSOC. “What we have is a situation where a trunking network consisting of a series of repeater towers across the state needs to be built before the local jurisdictions‹such as fire, EMS, and law enforcement‹will have the ability to talk to one another. Once that network of towers is in place, it then becomes the appropriate time to spend money at the local level to complete the system. Because it will take considerable time for this system to be completed, it may be prudent to consider a design-build bidding process that would put the burden of getting it right the first-time on the bidder and avoid costly change orders later,” Rueff added.
“We in Region I HSOC have worked hard to be good stewards of the grant monies we have been entrusted with. There was not enough money to accomplish everything that was needed so we had to prioritize the needs based on the best information we could get. In building a much needed statewide emergency communications system, the state will have to prioritize as well,” Rueff said.
The resolution, signed by Rueff, states that the Region I HSOC “strongly supports the proposal to fund an interoperable communications infrastructure network‹to start building for the future‹which will insure Missouri’s ability to leverage federal grant dollars and improve the ability of public safety agencies at both the state and local level to protect and serve the citizens of Missouri through better communication.”
House Bill 2008, as a part of the Department of Public Safety’s budget, also includes matching dollars for a federal interoperability grant that will help secure federal dollars to help the state advance its plan.
In other business, the Region I HSOC also went on record in opposition to FEMA’s move toward requiring local matching funds for homeland security grants, awarded by the committee. The committee discussed that, in all likelihood, rural areas would receive fewer grants because of the lack of financial resources available in rural areas, especially compared to more densely populated urban areas. If agencies can’t apply for grants because they lack the local match, interoperability will be difficult to achieve, the group recognized.
Members also discussed the difficulty in tracking and documenting matching funds. Rueff will carry the committee’s message to the state meeting of the Homeland Security Advisory Committee.
The Region I HSOC, established along the boundaries of the State Highway Patrol Troop I, includes Crawford, Dent, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Laclede counties. Jurisdictions represented include emergency management, police chiefs, sheriffs, fire, county health departments, homeland security rescue teams, public works, mayor/city administrators, county commissioners, private industry/public utility, emergency medical services, 911, volunteer groups and schools.
Rueff of Rolla, representing the Phelps County Disaster Committee, serves as chair, and Linda Hanrahan, St. James Ambulance District, is vice chair.
The HSOC also includes ex-officio representatives from various agencies, including Missouri State Emergency Management Agency Area Coordinator, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Missouri Division of Fire Safety, Missouri Department of Agriculture, Missouri Department of Transportation, Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Water Patrol, Meramec Regional Planning Commission, Fort Leonard Wood, University of Missouri Rolla, Mark Twain National Forest, U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Three counties in the Meramec Region — Gasconade, Osage and Washington — are served through other regions. Gasconade and Osage counties are a part of Troop F, which is being coordinated by the Mid-Missouri Regional Planning Commission at Ashland while Washington County is a part of Troop C, which is coordinated by the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission at Perryville.
St. James. Mo. —
