MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office will finally get the financial assistance it needs to implement a new radio system. A north county radio station is reporting this week that the county has received the maximum amount of $6 million in a grant from the New York State Division of Homeland Security – which will be enough to allow the Sheriff’s office to rebuild the county’s public safety radio system.
The grant will enable to the county to replace the system, which comes with an estimated price tag of $7.5 million. County Sheriff Joseph Gerace says the FCC is requiring all radio bands used for emergency purposes to be reduced, or narrowbanded, by the end of this year. The county has already requested a waiver from the FCC since the new changes were due on Jan. 1, 2013.
Local police agencies are also in the process of narrowing banding their own radio systems and those updates will be compatible with the new county radio system. The city of Jamestown had to take out a bond late last year to pay for its narrow banding efforts, which will cost an estimated $600,000.
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