New York Cell Tower Upgraded For 911 Project

The Columbia County Board of Supervisors will be voting on a project proposal where part of an estimated $3 million will be used to upgrade a wireless communications network as a way to enhance the emergency services throughout the county.

Nathan Mayberg of the Register-Star reported that, “County supervisors agreed to budget $2.4 million last year to purchase new radios for the county’s fire department once Columbia County 911 switches from low band radio frequency to high band radio frequency for emergency responders. The projects also include replacing two towers in Livingston with one bulkier tower that will hold emergency services equipment.”

This undertaking will improve signaling, coverage, and allow for more communication lines for emergency responders throughout the county. The low band system that is currently being used only involves three frequencies. They are hoping that with this increase in network coverage they will be able to get eight to 10 separate frequencies.

Some of the fire companies are in areas that aren’t covered by the signals, Lopez said, “We have to manually send the signal. That can cause delays,” he said. (Source: Register-Star)

While most of the members of the community understand the necessity for emergency services to have reliable technology, some residents are concerned about the visual appeal. Sara Griffin runs the Olana Historic Site and is concerned about the appearance of the tower.

“For Olana, the issue has been whether this was the only site the tower could go and whether the tower had to be 190 feet high and bulkier than the current tower, Griffin said. ‘If it is the only place, we would have no issue. It hasn’t been clear to us,’” Mayberg reported.