While the upgrades likely won’t be felt directly by residents of Lewis County, first responders will surely appreciate an improved communications network when it goes online next summer.
“So what do we need? We need new radio equipment, updated radio equipment, antenna upgrades, additional frequency bandwidth, redundancy and battery backup,” said Lewis County Radio Communications Manager Justin Stennick.
During a meeting of the Lewis County Fire Chiefs Association at the Fire District 6 station on Wednesday night, Stennick said the upgrades are expected to be completed by August 2025.
“The basic list of what we’re looking to get out of the system upgrade, which is everything,” Stennick told fire chiefs from around Lewis County. “We’re starting basically from scratch.”
The project, which costs $7 million, is funded through federal appropriations, including $4.5 million through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners earmarked the ARPA funds to upgrade equipment at the 911 dispatch center and several radio communication sites throughout the county utilized by law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel.
“The Lewis County commissioners and the communications director ... have started putting together the plan for modernization to bring our radio infrastructure up to where it should be,” Stennick said.
Improvements to Lewis County’s radio equipment are overdue, Stennick said.
Much of the equipment was purchased in 2005 or earlier, and Stennick said the improvements are about “four years behind schedule of what is normally a system replacement.”
“Typically, 15 years is about average,” Stennick said. “So we’re kind of lacking on that.”
In addition to the aging technology, Stennick said the system lacks “redundancy” with equipment.
“One of our biggest problems is that we’re down to no spares and technology that is no longer made,” Stennick said. “So we can’t order it, we can’t fix it. We have a couple of spares sitting in the shop that we’ve been able to piece together over the last year and make them functional to where we deploy them if we have to, but they're kind of a last-case scenario.”
Part of the challenge, Stennick said, is Lewis County’s rugged terrain. While the rolling hills and steep foothills are an ideal landscape for recreationalists, the landscape can create a challenge for first responders looking to communicate across the county.
As part of the upgrades, the eastern portion of Lewis County will see improved radio communications to the 911 dispatch center.
“Mineral will actually have a full site. So if Morton is headed out there for mutual aid, you’re going to have communications that whole way, rather than six, seven, eight miles in between that right now where you can barely talk,” Stennick said. “So east end coverage will be dramatically improved.”
While subject to change, installation is currently slated to begin this fall with a targeted completion date of August 2025.
“We’re about a year out, but in reality, that is a pretty quick turnaround,” Stennick said. “Most systems take two or three years for a planning and implementation phase. So we’ve got some pretty aggressive timelines.”
Funding for 911 operations
The November ballot will include a proposal to raise the county’s sales tax by .2% to fund 911 operation services. If passed, Lewis County would collect an additional .2% sales tax to fund its 911 call center, a rate of two cents for every $10.
During the November 2023 election, the proposition failed by about 3%, with roughly 600 more voters opposing the proposal than supporting it.
The Citizens for Lewis County 911 political action committee (PAC) will host five town hall-style events across the county to increase support for the proposal ahead of the November election.
Each town hall will run from 6 to 9 p.m., and the events include:
• Sept. 9 at the Packwood Senior Community Center, located at 12931 U.S. Highway in Packwood.
• Sept. 16 at the Mossyrock Community Center, located at 212 E. State St. in Mossyrock.
• Sept. 23 at the Pe Ell School, located at 519 N. Second St. in Pe Ell.
• Sept. 30 at the Toledo Senior Center, located at 150 Coal St. in Toledo.
• Oct. 7 at the Twin Cities Senior Center, located at 2545 N. National Ave. in Chehalis.
