Town uses federal grant to purchase state-of-the-art communications equipment

NORTH SMITHFIELD - The town's emergency communications capabilities have been enhanced with receipt of the latest in a series of federal grants acquired by the local Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.

The town used the $13,600 Homeland Security grant to purchase three 800 megahertz (mhz) XTS2500 Motorola trunked radios and to install an amplifier booster, said Peter Branconnier, longtime local EMA director who wrote the grant application.

The radios were distributed to Town Administrator Paulette Hamilton, School Superintendent Stephen Lindberg and Public Works Director Raymond Pendergast.

The latest acquisition, said Branconnier, is part of a plan to equip all local police officers, firefighters and EMA officers with the 800 mhz radios so all three agencies can communicate through the new 800 mhz trunked statewide radio system.

Through a cooperative effort of the police, fire and EMA, the town was awarded a $68,000 Homeland Security grant 18 months ago that enabled the town to buy 24 800 mhz radios, the EMA director said.

Because the police, fire and EMA use different radio bandwidths for communication, the 800 mhz radios allow streamlined communication between the three public safety organizations.

The radios provide greater communication efficiency, Branconnier explained.

"In a major emergency we can all talk to each other. We don't need five different radios. That one radio does the job of five different sets. We can talk to anyone who has the same set," he said.

The sets also are state-of-the-art equipment, according to Branconnier, who has been local EMA director for 35 years.

"They're very, very advanced. They're minicomputers. They're the latest high tech that's out there," he said proudly.

With the new sets, public safety officials have 99.9 percent radio coverage of the town, Branconnier said.

The EMA team has already put the 800 mhz radios in service by providing traffic control and security at Pumpkinfest and the high school graduation, Branconnier said.

The local EMA search and rescue team also used the radios during the search in northwest Rhode Island for a missing Glocester policeman, Branconnier reported.

Branconnier said he's anticipating more grant funding shortly to buy additional 800 mhz radios.

The town's emergency communications network has also been improved with the installation of a bi-directional amplifier, which boosts radio signals, at the North Smithfield ice arena on Route 146, which eliminated a radio signal dead zone in that area, Branconnier said.

The state has also made major improvements to the town's radio control site at the fire tower on Woonsocket Hill Road, Branconnier reports.

The EMA director estimates the state invested $250,000 at the location including construction of a pre-fabricated building, a generator, antennas and radios for which local taxpayers "didn't have to pay a penny."

In a related matter, Branconnier said EMA team members received training last week in Warwick in preparation for vaccination clinics against the H1N1 virus that will be administered in town to first responders and urgent care personnel.