Politics & Government
BOC Discusses Receiver Request
The City of Douglasville wants to put the microwave receiver on the new jail to be used as the city's primary means of communication.
An intergovernmental agreement will be necessary before the takes action on a request from the to put a 20-inch microwave repeater on top of the new Douglas County jail.
The city plans to use the repeater as its main source of public safety communication and use fiber as a backup. The city also has asked the county to pay for the project with 911 funds, which is something that 911 Director Greg Whitaker said the county’s attorney will have to look into. House Bill 280 would allow governments to use leftover funds collected by 911 centers to pay for 911-related operations, but Whitaker said the money would still need to be used for 911 systems.
“This being a City of Douglasville system, I don’t know if we can do that,” Whitaker said.
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County Attorney Ken Bernard told the BOC during its work session on Monday that the county has in the past rejected requests from various public safety departments because the law was tight regarding the use of funds for 911 operations.
“It really can’t be used for outside things even though they’re collaterally-related to public safety,” Bernard said.
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The county also needs to determine exactly what the city will use the repeater for, Bernard said.
“Is it being used for their IT department as well as other departments within the city government?” he said.
County Administrator Eric Linton said that there would have to be an annual or monthly fee charged to the city to cover costs.
“There’s going to be a cost to operate, especially if they’re using it full time,” Linton said. “No one’s giving us a hard number about how much power it will use. If they were using it as a backup, I wouldn’t be worried about it, but if they’re going to be using it full time, power is something we’ve been very conscience about. We’ve gone very energy efficient. The power bills are going to be substantial in the new facility.”
The repeater is proposed to be installed on the elevator on the backside of the building, running down the elevator shaft to the telecom room.
At its legislative meeting today, the BOC is expected to amend the budget in the amount of $37,000 to adequately complete attorney billing for November and December for Juvenile Court, accept an Emergency Management Performance grant in the amount of $27,652, and execute several annual agreements. The BOC meets at 10 a.m. at .
