Council Approves New Radio System (Poll)

The Township Council unanimously approved a $5.1 million bond ordinance Monday that will allow the township to replace its current communications system.

The new system, which should take nine to 10 months to install, will meet a new  Federal mandate requiring municipalities to move from “Wideband” communications to “narrowband” communications.

According to the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, the deadline “is the result of an FCC effort that began almost two decades ago to ensure more efficient use of the spectrum and greater spectrum access for public safety and non-public safety users.”

Municipalities have until early 2012 to agree to a plan, and February 2013 to implement the plan.

Emergency Management Officer Austin Kosik said the new system also will eliminate certain “dead zones” in the township, as well as replace a system that is so old (18 years) it is difficult to find replacement parts for. That problem came to light in Juy when the .

“The components are nearing obsolescence,” he said. “The parts we would need, we would have to make a ‘best effort’ to get them. We can go to eBay, or call around, and in a public safety mission critical system, we really don’t want to be operating in that kind of environment.”

Now that the purchase and eventual installation are finalized, township fire departments and the Rescue Squad will have to upgrade their own equipment in order to be on the same frequency as the township.

Fire District No 2 will hold a special election on Dec. 16 to fund the new radios, while other departments and the Rescue Squad have said they are ready to purchase the equipment, said Kosik.

In addition, three communities that East Brunswick provides coverage for also will upgrade their equipment—the Borough of South River, and the Spotswood and Milltown fire departments.

Council members approved the ordinance after several weeks of deliberation over whether or not the system was the best one for the township.

Councilman James Wendell said he supported the upgrades, but wanted to make sure that the new system wouldn’t suddenly need upgrades after a few years, a scenario Kosik said would not happen. Wendell also suggested getting a third-party consultant to look at the plan, but given the cost of that and the deadline, it would not have been practical. In addition, the township received a $500,000 discount from the vendor by making the purchase before Dec. 21.

“I don’t want to seen an expenditure next year for $200,000 for something more to this system,” he said. “I want to know that with purchasing this system it is going to be the system for us for a long period of time, and that it may need maintenance, but no major upgrades.”

Kosik said the system will last 15 to 20 years and because of its effectiveness, will not need major upgrades.

Councilwoman Denise Contrino said she is concerned about the new system covering the entire township. She said the current system has several “dead zones” that make communication difficult.

“It’s definitely something we need to do, I just hope what we are doing, and what we are getting, and the equipment we need, that it fixes the problems,” she said “I just hope what we’re doing is going to fix the transmission problems I hear every day.”

Kosik said the vendor has guaranteed that there will be no "dead zones" and that coveage will be average or above for the entire township. If it is not, the vendor will make the necessary upgrades to meet that requirment.