By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

Upgrades to the county’s intergovernmental communications system won’t cost the county a dime, according to Morgan County E911 Communications Supervisor Bill Crew.

Crew shared details about the Georgia Interoperability Network (GIN) / Motobridge system upgrades during the recent meeting of the Morgan County 911 Advisory Board.

He said this system would allow the county to communicate with their state and federal counterparts in the event of an emergency.
He said the upgrades were paid for with state money.

Gwen Ruark, Morgan County Emergency Management Agency Director, added that the money came from the All Hazards Council.

Crew explained that the upgrades are rolling out in three phases.
Phase I includes three more radios – VHF, UHF, and 700/800 – that already are in place.
“Each radio has channels everybody has access to,” he said. “Whatever system you’re on, you’ll be able to contact state and federal.”

Phase II will include the installation of the antennas. He estimated they would be between 80 and 120 feet high.
Phase III will integrate Motobridge with their consoles, he said. Training for the operators will be online.
The board’s towing ordinance came up at their last meeting of 2012. For their first meeting of 2013 Crew provided copies of their current towing ordinance.

Morgan County EMS Director Huey Atkins pointed out that the ordinance already addresses lot size and fencing requirements for towing companies.

Morgan County Sheriff Robert Markley said that once the deputies take an inventory of the car and turn it over to the towing company, the towing company is responsible for it.

Those present also reviewed three documents pertaining to board membership.
Those documents include the county’s requirements, state law, and their old 911 plan.
They went through the county document and made changes to reflect current practice. They then voted to share those changes with county commissioners at that group’s next meeting.

In other news:
• Markley asked about getting battery backup for their listener sites or perhaps a battery and a solar panel to provide a trickle charge to the batteries.
Ruark said each tornado siren would require four batteries.
• During their last meeting they discussed the possibility of ride alongs to allow the county’s firemen, emergency medical personnel, and law enforcement officers to spend time seeing how the other groups work.
County Fire Chief Mark Melvin said staffing challenges due to the recent holidays and sickness has prevented them from scheduling those yet.

Printed in the January 17, 2013 edition.