PRESS RELEASE
Collaboration among Columbus, Nebraska city administration and other staff members will help the Columbus Fire Department secure an improved public safety radio system and provide better service to residents.
The Columbus City Council voted unanimously (6-0, as Council members J. Prent Roth and Katherine Lopez were absent) during its most recent regular meeting on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, to approve a quote from Electronic Engineering for $620,623.62 for the new CFD radio equipment.
More specifically, the quote includes 46 handheld radios with remote speakers, 30 spare batteries, seven bank chargers, 20 mobile radios, six in-vehicle repeaters and the necessary warranty and programming provisions. It also includes the installation of the mobile radios and in-vehicle repeaters.
The current radios, according to CFD Chief Ryan Gray, were in serious need of being replaced.
“Our current radios are not compatible with the SRS due to age,” Gray said. “Our current radio system has aged and no longer provides the capabilities that one would expect from a public safety radio system, therefore, with the new SRS tower going up on Shady Lake Road, we felt that now is a great opportunity for the department to upgrade our end user equipment to benefit from a statewide resource that is so close.”
The new ones will make a world of difference, he stressed.
“The new radios will allow for the fire department to utilize the Nebraska Statewide Radio System (SRS). This system provides for enhanced interoperability not only with local resources but with statewide resources in the cases of large-scale emergency events or natural disasters,” Gray said. “In our day-to-day operations, we will experience increased coverage and clearer verbal communications when utilizing the system.”
But getting this Capital Improvement Project done didn’t come without its challenges. CFD suffered a minor setback when it received word it hadn’t been approved twice for a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant that would have helped with the cost as initially planned.
Gray worked with City Administrator Tara Vasicek, Parks and Recreation Director Betsy Eckhardt and Finance Director Heather Lindsley to help reallocate funds so the radios could be purchased. Approximately $240,500 was budgeted for the radios (Capital Improvement Project #25-001 and Capital Improvement Project #25-002), but other capital funds were reallocated to make up for the lost grant funds:
- CFD reallocated funds initially earmarked for lawn equipment ($4,925) and Body Armor and Tactical Response Kits ($17,232.60)
- Another $350,000 initially planned for Memorial Stadium Phase 1 improvements was reallocated to cover the rest.
All of these CIP projects will likely be readdressed in future budgets.
The fire chief said he appreciates his fellow City officials for helping make it possible, as well as the City Council for approving the amended plan.
“The collaboration between the finance director, city administrator, parks and rec director, and myself is another example of how we can collectively come together for a common goal regardless of what we all have in front of us. I speak to the fact that the fire department is just one spoke in the wheel that is our city government, and the relationship that we have with other city departments is important. We all work really well with each other,” Gray said.
“Our departments are led by folks who have decades of experience and knowledge who truly do have the best interest of the community in mind. This is solely another example of that mentality.”
Mayor Jim Bulkley and the Columbus City Council praised the department heads and city administration for finding a solution for purchasing the necessary equipment while working wi