To improve public safety and the efficiency of the Barton County Communications Department in light of COVID-19, the County Commission Tuesday morning OKed purchase of a four-person dispatching console for 911, utilizing federal pandemic relief funding.
On Aug. 12, Barton County invited proposals for an integrated IP-based, four-position dispatch console that would work with existing equipment in the Communications Center, 1300 Stone, Great Bend. Sealed bids were accepted until Aug. 24, with the only bid coming from Motorola for a MCC 7500E station at total cost of $ 634,436, said Grant Coordinator Sue Cooper.
“There is a wait time to get the equipment built, programed and shipped,” Communications Director Dena Popp said. It is a minimum of four to six months before it would arrive here.
“The reasoning for the upgrade in the console was, obviously, because we need to be more efficient with our response to our first responders,” Cooper said. The new system will allow Barton and other counties using the same system to seemlessly dispatch for one another should there be a staff shortage due to a COVID outbreak or other reasons.
It has touchscreen monitors, graphic icons, customized options for user training to curb training times. This is key with should the department experience workforce shortages and turnover.
In addition, they can consolidate equipment into smaller work spaces, Cooper said. This ensures better efficiency and training, and the ability to sanitize stations.
It also integrates into the Astro 25 system, which allows the dispatcher to send sensitive information, such as quarantine orders, over a secure network.
“This is something that might not have been so important pre-COVID, but it is extremely important now,” said District 3 Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson.
The upgrade also helps replace existing equipment that is showing its age and causing some problems, Popp said.
Getting to this point
The U.S. Department of the Treasury American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds were established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA).
Barton County received its first disbursement of funding in the amount of $2,503,634.50, from ARPA on May 20, Cooper said. The funds are to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, as units of government have endured immense public health and economic needs created by the crisis.
At the July 7 study session, commissioners identified the priorities for using that money. Among these were staffing issues and such county services as public health and public safety.
On July 12, the commission approved tapping just over $1 million of the ARPA funds for payroll and other expenses. It also wanted more information on using ARPA for 911 and first responders.
This led Popp to seek sealed bids for the console, Cooper said.
