Problems persist with Starke County’s emergency radio system. Several months ago, the Koontz Lake Volunteer Fire Department was having trouble communicating with dispatchers. On Monday, it was the Knox Volunteer Fire Department that was having problems, according to County Commissioner Donnie Binkley. “The Sheriff’s [Department] had trouble again with the radios,” he said during Monday’s commissioners meeting. “Today, they couldn’t get a hold of the fire department. The fire department couldn’t get a hold of dispatch. I think we need to look into these towers or have somebody do a check, maybe see if [IT Director] Mark [Gourley] can get a couple different people and have them check to see if we’ve got enough towers or something’s going on.”
The county hired J&K Communications several months ago to improve the system, but the commissioners weren’t satisfied with the results. That’s why Binkley says he wants to have a couple different companies evaluate Starke County’s signal strength. “J&K can even do a survey for us or something, if it’s the county lacking, we don’t have enough towers, then we need to fix it, or if it’s their problem. And if it’s their problem, that’s why I would kind of like if two people do it. I don’t know what it would cost us, or if Mark could check in and see what it would cost us.”
Gourley told the commissioners that solving the problem will depend on whether the issues can be traced to the county’s equipment, or the state’s. But he said that finding the root cause of the problem could be tricky, since the issues are intermittent and are often unnoticed until officials are in the middle of an emergency.
