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Supervisors pressed on communication system proposal

contributed photo State Center fire chief Brad Pfantz tells the Marshall County Board of Supervisors the importance of having an improved communication system in the county.

The Marshall County public safety communication project took center stage during an open dialogue at the regular Tuesday Marshall County Board of Supervisors meeting.

Brad Pfantz, the fire chief of the State Center Fire Department, was involved in the dialogue explaining why the county needs an improved communication system. For four months, Pfantz has been talking about times in the last year when the system went dark and first responders were unable to communicate.

Not only has the system gone dark at times, but emergency calls are sometimes interrupted by disruptive background noise. The situation puts the public and first responders at risk, Pfantz said.

At the Tuesday meeting, said he recognized there was a concern in the county about using an essential purpose bond to fund the maintenance of the proposal.

Nan Benson said the county did use an essential purpose bond in 2014 for $1.2 million for the Marshall County Courthouse for HVAC upgrades and interior work.

Pfantz said the proposal was taken to the Marshall County Communications Commission in March to request a levy for the ongoing and recurring expenses.

“What that does is reduce the total upfront cost of the project from $5.5 million to $3.6 million,” he said.

While it is still a significant cost, Pfantz said it is much lower than the initial proposal made in December. The start-up cost would be $2.7 million.

The proposal would allow Marshall County to inherit the current system from RACOM. If that is not done, the county would pay $1.8 million in fees during a 10-year period to utilize the system which does not include maintenance.

“Currently there are 189 subscribers in Marshall County … and they pay $74,500 just to have access to it,” Pfantz said.

If the county goes forward with inheriting and owning the system from RACOM, Pfantz said 498 subscribers would be on the network. If the county does not own the network, they would pay $296,00 per year for access and maintenance.

Supervisor warns of ‘slippery slope’

Supervisor Bill Patten said Iowa Code makes supervisors responsible to ensure there is a 911 service but it does not say the supervisors are required to pay for it.

Supervisor Dave Thompson said it is financially irresponsible to borrow money to pay for ongoing expenses. He also does not believe it is the county’s responsibility to provide equipment such as pagers or radios to fire departments in towns.

“Many of these are incorporated cities and are supported by fire departments through the township,” Thompson said.

Pfantz said taxpayers are going to pay for it one way or another and he urged people to get out of the mind-set that residents in certain towns only pay for costs attributed to those towns. He said some fo the towns will not be able to afford it.

“One of the things I have been hesitant to do in this office is set precedent. I’m very cognizant that if we set this precedent, that we get on a slippy slope – where the next step is the county is responsible for trucks, buildings, for everything else and I am very hesitant to take this step,” Thompson said.

Thompson said the county needs to get some of the money back.

“Everybody here is chasing who is going to fund this thing and everybody’s looking to the next agency up,” Thompson said.

The supervisor said everybody needs to work together to get funding from the state to take care of the communication system. Pfantz agreed but added it does not fix the present problem.

Feelings of frustration

The dialogue was not without some tension. Pfantz said he has been waiting to hear from county officials since the proposal was first presented at the Dec. 23, 2019 Marshall County Board of Supervisors meeting. Time is not something that he feels is a luxury and he said it is an important project to help protect the public and those serving on the front lines – 290 of whom do it without any pay throughout the county.

“I’ve talked to a lot of firefighters and EMTs in the county in the last several months,” Pfantz said. “There is a feeling of frustration that this isn’t being made a priority.”

Pfantz said if there was ever a function of government – it was to provide public safety for citizens whose lives are at risk from a faulty communications system.

Contention arose between Pfantz and supervisors Thompson and Patten when Pfantz said he was told the information he presented to the communications commission was not passed on to the supervisors. Patten told Pfantz the information was shared that very day.

“This is why we want this in public because you are very good at saying things that are just plain not true,” Thompson said.

Since December, Pfantz said neither RACOM nor the committee have been contacted about the project. With the open dialogue, Pfantz said he hopes to understand what is being done to move forward. County officials have been in communication with surrounding counties, such as Tama, Hardin and Poweshiek, about the communication system in place there.

Supervisor Steve Salasek said people are clearly passionate about the project.

“I guess we got to decide what our next step will be,” Salasek said. 

No clear timeline

Pfantz said he was not trying to box anyone in, but the project has been hanging four months after the first proposal. He said there is no plan if the system completely fails.

“It is a sincere safety issue not only for us but the citizens of the county,” Pfantz said. “I beg and plead we can continue having the conversation and keep this moving forward.”

Pfantz wanted to know what kind of timeframe can be expected. Thompson told Pfantz that he was going to take his time and would not get boxed in. He said funding needs to come from the state or through a bond which would allow the public to decide in an election. Benson said the election would cost $25,000 and would require 60 percent of the voters to pass.

Pfantz said if it would fail, there would be another six-month waiting period before it could be brought back to a vote. Benson added that there are also certain months when a bond election can take place. Pfantz reminded everyone that the project is already looking at an 18-month build time before it goes live, which does not include time used for elections.

“I want make this comment that just because there is a period when you lose the bond and lose the election does not preclude taking the right and voice away from the people,” Thompson said.

Pfantz said bonds require public hearings so if people want to oppose or support, they will have an opportunity. He asked if the supervisors would be willing to talk about the issue again in a couple weeks at the next meeting.

Thompson said he would not oppose that. However, “Chief Pfantz as long as we agree with you, we’re doing our job. The second we have an opinion that is slightly different than yours, all of a sudden we’re negligent and I do not appreciate the comments.”

In other business:

• The Marshall County Board of Supervisors approved an amendment to the Marshall County Infectious Disease Action Plan COVID-19 Pandemic. The amendment creates a policy that gives full-time county employees compensation if they work less than 40 hours per week at two-thirds their rate of pay. The policy is used at the discretion of county department heads.

Benson said the policy does not apply to emergency personnel such as the sheriff’s office.

“What this means is we don’t have enough work for the employees and versus having them just sitting, twiddling their thumbs, they would get two-thirds pay,” Benson said. “I can kind of argue this one on both sides of the table. As a department head and elected official, I am not sure I would personally use this in my department. My other thinking is we do not know how long this is going to go.”

Thompson said he saw the merit and thought it was something the county should have in place to prepare.

“With any luck we are seeing this thing peak out and maybe reverse itself in the next couple weeks. I am inclined to go with that,” Thompson said.

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