MIDDLEPORT — It’s taken more than a decade, but with a Griswold Street groundbreaking in Middleport on Tuesday afternoon, Niagara County is on the verge of completing a massive, and critically necessary, upgrade to its public safety communications system.
Niagara County Sheriff Mike Filicetti and Niagara County Legislature Chairman Mike Hill joined a number of other local officials and first responders in turning over the first spades of dirt to begin construction on the county’s 13th and final digital emergency communications tower.
Twelve other digital towers, at various locations across the county, have come online since the county started the radio conversion project around 2015. The 13-tower network will allow every law enforcement agency, fire company, EMS, school district and highway department in the county to communicate on the same radio network in crystal-clear digital sound no matter where they are operating.
“The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) mandated that we go to digital systems and the county made an initial investment of $10 million for the first five towers,” Filicetti said. “We’ve been slowly adding towers since then.”
The sheriff said an old analog transmission system sometimes didn’t work in remote parts of the county or inside large structures like the Fashion Outlets in the Town of Niagara.
“Sometimes we would lose (transmissions) inside buildings,” he said. “If we were outside, there were no problems (with the radio transmissions). But at the outlet mall and out in the eastern end of the county, if you were in some buildings, the radios (would shut off). This is the last piece for our building coverage. Reliable communications are one of the most critical tools first responders have. When someone calls 911, they expect us to communicate seamlessly and respond without delay. This tower helps ensure we can meet that expectation.”
The roughly $2.3 million project is being funded through a combination of sources, including a New York State Interoperable Communications Grant, Niagara County 911 funds, and a $1 million federal appropriation.
“When someone calls 911 from Youngstown to Gasport, Niagara Falls to Lockport, they shouldn’t have to wonder whether the signal will reach the people coming to help them,” said Hill. “It is an investment that may never receive much attention on a typical day — but when someone’s worst day of days arrives, this infrastructure can make all the difference between life or death literally.”
Filicetti said agencies relying on the new digital radio communications system have already noticed the difference it makes.
“It’s a vast improvement,” the sheriff said. “When I started, we relied on an old (analog) tower repeater system that was sketchy at best. This is vastly better.”