County-wide Emergency Radio Communications System

County-wide Emergency Radio Communications System QUICK FACTS
	Building a 12-tower emergency radio communication system, Building towers on property that is already publicly owned when feasible to save tax-payer dollars, All construction is done in compliance with all federal, state and local laws, The County desired to utilize existing towers but lease rates for tower sites that can accommodate the necessary space, are tall enough and that meet structural requirements have not been affordable for taxpayers. It is more economical over the life of the system to build and own the towers, Public notices regarding the building of tower sites are published in newspapers of general circulation and are done in accordance with the law and written public comments are accepted, The State Historic Preservation Office requirements are set by federal law. The county has no role in defining what that process includes and the County is complying with all appropriate environmental reviews for each potential site within the system, The Gateway Arch is 630 feet tall. Towers being built in St. Charles County will likely range from 250-450 feet, The height of emergency radio communications towers is determined by radio frequency engineers in order to provide coverage to emergency responders who utilize the system, When feasible, the County will allow private entities to co-locate equipment on the towers to help fund the maintenance costs of the emergency radio communications system over the 25-year life of the system.
PROJECT INFORMATION St. Charles County began a project in 2009 to design and build a new, county-wide emergency radio communications system for emergency responders, which includes police, fire, ambulance and public works departments. Today each municipality in the county operates their own systems which have coverage gaps, are becoming obsolete and are incapable of being modified to meet Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandates going into effect on January 1, 2013. In 2009, the municipalities, the County and fire districts determined it was in the best interest of taxpayers and user agencies to build one, unified system and that after deployment of this new system, the cities would decommission their existing systems. The new system will be more economical to operate and maintain, will eliminate radio communication coverage gaps and will make it easier and faster for members of different departments and municipalities to communicate with each other. The new system will be used every day in responding to emergencies, improving the level of service to residents that the agencies provide. The emergency radio communication system is extremely important when lives and property are at stake and coverage and level of service requirements by users are extremely high. The new system will also increase the capability of the entire greater metropolitan St. Louis region in responding to major disasters, as the new county system will be an integral part of a larger system being implemented concurrently in both St. Louis and Jefferson counties. The new 800 MHz, P-25 digital, trunked radio system does not exist today in St. Charles County and requires the building of new and more robust towers in the County in order to be able to provide the level of service required by emergency responders. The contracted vendor for the system, Motorola Solutions, is in the process of engineering a 12-site system design and finalizing locations for these new emergency radio communications towers. As the engineering is completed, the County will make available the list of tower locations on this website.
Currently, the County anticipates utilizing the following County-owned properties for emergency radio communications sites and such use does not otherwise interfere with the normal use of the property.
	St. Charles County Sheriff Office at 101 Sheriff Dierker Court, O’Fallon, MO 63366 St. Charles County Highway Shed at 2550 Bethman Road, St. Charles, MO 63301 St. Charles County Highway Shed at 2480 St. Peters Howell Road, St. Peters, MO 63376 St. Charles County Indian Camp Creek Park, 1594 Dietrich Road, Foristell, MO 63348 St. Charles County future Barnard Park at 3785 S. Point Prairie Road, Wentzville, MO 63385 St. Charles County future Highway Shed at 7301 S. Highway 94, St. Charles, MO 63304
The County has acquired the following sites for placement of emergency radio communications towers:
	500 Schluersburg Road, Augusta, MO 63332 975 Meyer Rd., Wentzville, MO 63385
The County has published notices regarding the potential use of the following sites for emergency radio communications towers:
	Northwest corner of Adams and Third Street, St. Charles, MO 63301
Those interested in the project may learn more about the site identification process by watching the video below.