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FORT SCOTT - Bourbon County's public safety radio system is failing, a consultant told county commissioners Monday night, with no preventative maintenance, equipment past its end of life and coverage gaps across the western half of the county.
The recommended option — a five-site digital radio network — carries a preliminary price tag of about $23.4 million, including 20 years of system maintenance. That includes $14.5 million to build the system, about $6.4 million for maintenance and roughly $2.5 million for new radios.
Sheriff Bill Martin and Dean Hart of TUSA Consulting presented the firm's needs assessment, built on site visits, coverage modeling and a survey that drew 55 responses from public safety personnel.
The estimate excludes land purchases, project management and a construction contingency, all of which would be additional costs. It also includes radios for Fort Scott police and fire, a share Martin wants the city to help pay.
"While we were doing site visits, one of your sites was completely off the air and nobody even knew it," Hart said. "So how's that show up when an officer or deputy goes out there and expects it to work and it doesn't?"
Martin said the Garland tower went down last week when a repeater fan failed, and deputies working an incident with another agency could not communicate because the agencies use different radios.
Surveyed users also cited a lack of encryption, which Martin said is a federal mandate passed down through the state.
"Unfunded mandate, right?" Commissioner Gregg Motley asked.
"They typically are," Hart said.
TUSA's report outlined four options. Its recommendation is a five-site 700/800 MHz trunked system, using the P25 public safety standard and owned by the county.
Towers and shelters should last 50 years, Hart said, while the technology has a 15- to 20-year life. Only the existing Heartland site could be reused, Hart said.
District 1 Commissioner Samuel Tran asked the central question.
"I appreciate the presentation," Tran said. "How do we pay for that?"
Hart said construction would take two to three years, with payments tied to milestones — roughly 20% in the first six months, 30% around the 18-month mark and the balance as the system comes online. Tran calculated the infrastructure cost alone at $4.8 million a year over three years.
"This would almost have to be a general obligation bond," Motley said.
Hart said borrowing for infrastructure and radios typically runs 10 to 15 years, while sales taxes are another funding source he commonly sees.
Martin pointed to the system's 15- to 20-year technology life.
"So it goes back to look how quick this technology changes, because in 15, 20 years you're looking at the change of technology again," Martin said. "So are you actually starting all over?"
Because the estimate includes radios for Fort Scott police and fire, Martin said he will meet with city officials in the coming weeks. Hart described cost-sharing models in which cities pay a share of maintenance.
"This isn't a one-sided conversation," Martin said. "I don't expect the county to put the whole bill."
Whatever the funding split, Martin argued, the price has to be weighed against the stakes.
"It's a major public safety issue," Martin said. "People argue with me, but what is the actual cost for somebody's life out there on the road?"
"I think it's once and we've got to pull the Band-Aid off," Tran said. "So we just got to figure out how to work with the city and everybody else to make this happen.
TUSA will next prepare and evaluate requests for proposals from vendors, Martin said. Hart agreed to provide a detailed payment schedule.
Martin urged commissioners to email him questions.
"It's something that we need desperately because it's mandated, number one," he said. "And number two, it's officer safety."
Hart warned that waiting will not make the project cheaper, saying costs for tower steel, copper and shelters are rising 15% to 25% a year.
"I know people are probably out there going, 'Oh my God, you're leaving this to our grandkids to pay for it,'" Martin said.
"Well, like I said this before, my grandkids would go, 'Why did you not build it then when it was cheaper? Now here it is. We're paying for it now,'" he said. "So that mindset needs to change about who's paying for what."
A copy of the presentation TUSA gave commissioners, as well as a video of the discussion, is linked below.
