Henry County seeks to improve 911 communications

HENRY COUNTY, Tenn. — Safety concerns are prompting one West Tennessee community to upgrade their 911 systems.

Emergency officials in Henry County are working together to pursue improvements to their current 911 radio system.

Monday night, the 911 Board approved starting the planning process and working to find the funding.

“What we are wanting to do is partner with the city and the county and try to go to a new system that would put more repeaters out in the counties where we could have better communications,” 911 Director Mark Archer said.

Repeaters help increase the power and the range of the signal. The system now in the county has been around for about 20 years but has been upgraded over time. This would be a transition from analog to digital.

“Looking at these coverage areas where we need to put repeaters in and increase the number of repeaters we have in our county out in the outer-lying areas to improve that coverage,” EMA Director Ron Watkins said.

Officials say right now the signals aren’t strong enough to handle the area, creating dead spots, which could lead to dangerous situations for first responders.

“Especially if they were to run into an incident while responding to that, we have to have communications with them, so not only for our public citizens, but our first responders could also get in trouble,” Archer said.

The total project could cost anywhere from $700,000 to $800,000, and the 911 board has agreed to pay $250,000 if and when the project starts.

“The cost of the project doesn’t cost the 911 subscribers any more money,” Archer said. “It is money that we have put back through 911 grants that we have put back over the years.”

The project is still in its early phases, and if they can get the project funded they hope to be finished with it in the next couple of years.