By Steve Marroni, The Evening Sun
Original publication date: Aug. 16, 2011

ADAMS COUNTY, Pa. — As Adams County negotiates buying a new, digital radio system, a candidate running for commissioner said the current board should hold off on the $15 million to $30 million purchase.

It’s a big chunk of change, said Paul Kellett, the Freedom Township supervisor who is one of two Democrat candidates. Plus, pending federal legislation could potentially pay for the whole project.

But Commissioner George Weikert said even if the federal act is passed, it could be as much as 15 years before that system is installed. Weikert said the county needs to move forward to replace its antiquated system, and continue negotiations with Motorola Inc., approved in June to be the new radio system vendor.

Kellett said the Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act passed out of congressional committee by a 21-4 vote, and bill sponsors want the legislation to be passed by the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when emergency personnel dealt with radio system inter-operability problems.

Those issues still plague many area, including Adams County, which is why the county and local police and firefighters sought the new radio system in the first place.

Additionally, Kellett said the radios from the federal program would operate on a 700-megahertz frequency, as opposed to the 800-megahertz Adams County is seeking. He said this might make the radios incompatible with federally funded radios, but Weikert disagrees, and said the two should work together.

Adams County’s current analog system was last updated in 1979, and officials have said replacement parts are not made anymore, and have to be purchased on eBay. Emergency Services Director John Eline has said the current system fails “almost daily.” He said the new system is expected to be more reliable, and will link police, firefighters, paramedics as well as municipalities and possibly school districts.

Those responders who work in multiple counties currently have to carry multiple radios, but with the new system, departments can be patched together with the flip of a switch.

But signing a contract with a radio vendor, and taking out a multi-million-dollar bond for what could eventually be free is a major concern, Kellett said, and it will have a significant impact on the incoming board of commissioners.

Weikert said the project will not likely be up for a vote before a newly elected board of commissioners takes office in January, but negotiations will continue so that the new board has the necessary information to make a decision on the project.

Motorola Inc. is meeting with members of the county radio work group this week, Weikert said, and is showing the county preliminary designs for the system. A cost can be negotiated once a design for a system that would fit Adams County is finalized, Weikert said.

It could be two to three years before the new radios are operational.

In November, Kellett will appear on the ballot with fellow Democrat Marty Qually, and Republicans Randy Phiel and Jim Martin.

Three of the four will make up the new board of commissioners in January. Current Commissioner Glenn Snyder did not seek re-election, and Weikert and Commissioner Lisa Moreno-Woodward lost in the May primary.

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