Schuylkill County commissioners recently accepted a handsome wooden plaque from the Pennsylvania Fire & Emergency Services Institute in Harrisburg, to thank them for their support of firefighters through funding for a training center and for the gift of $5 million in digital radio equipment for each of the county's 110 volunteer fire companies.

Commissioners announced the purchase of the 1,140 radios on Christmas Eve. The equipment was bought on a lease/purchase contract with Motorola Solutions. Under the seven-year, zero interest agreement, the first payment of $722,766 is due on April 1, 2017.The radios, to replace outmoded analog equipment, will be given to fire chiefs and for each vehicle over the next several months.The county bought the radios through the state's COSTARS cooperative purchasing program, eliminating the need to seek bids, Commissioner Gary J. Hess said.County officials negotiated the contract directly with Motorola, which they said offered the best prices and the equipment is compatible with the main communications system at the county 911 center, which is also Motorola.That meant bypassing the sole Motorola franchise in Schuylkill County, Green's Communications of Pottsville. Although the county does business with Green's to maintain equipment, it deals directly with Motorola on large purchases, including the main system in the 911 center."When we contracted with Motorola, we didn't contract with (company owner) Bob Green. We contracted with Motorola (for the radios)," said Commissioners' Chairman Frank J. Staudenmeier.Green confirmed that in a telephone interview."Green's Communications does not have any hand in deciding any pricing, or bidding or proposals. All of the decisions are made by (Motorola Solutions) direct personnel," he said.Green said that because the radios are "upper-end," their unique capabilities require buyers to deal directly with the company."These radios are sold in a different purchasing paths. Because of the complexity and security concerns of having these radios fall into the wrong hands, everything is done through the manufacturer," Green said. "It's different from old way of buy-and-sell."Committee decisionCommissioners enlisted the aid of a committee that included firefighters, emergency medical providers and law enforcement officers to guide them in the lease/purchase, said Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr.Hess said the county is "open to other companies coming in, but their equipment must be compatible with the main Motorola system."Halcovage said the specs for the radios were drawn up by the 911 director Scott Krater, the consultant, Essential Management, and the management team, composed of county Administrator Mark Scarbinsky and financial director Paul Buber.Green said he was involved with Essential Management, which is headed by former county 911 director John Mercuri, about 10 years ago, but he has no involvement with its operations now.Green Communications was tapped by Motorola Solutions to install and maintain the radio equipment," county Fire Chiefs Association president Frank Zangari said."Bob Green's company is the installer. Green is the Motorola representative in Schuylkill County. Motorola chose to go to him. There are other people that can install these radios, and install them reasonably. They're not part of this Motorola contract," Zangari said.EncryptionNews reporters were dismayed to learn the new equipment would be encrypted, meaning talk among firefighters using the digital equipment will not be heard over scanners."It will be encrypted," Halcovage said. Zangari explained that "the public will still be able to hear the dispatch. That's not going to change. As a fire chief, when I call back to my station and say, please send me water, you may not be able to hear that over the scanner."But that's with the scanners of today. It does not mean the technology down the road is not going to create a scanner that that can happen," he said. "It means that the old scanners are not going to work to hear that communication.""The primary focus is safety," Staudenmeier said. "Safety for our firefighters. The message that came back from all the firefighters and the police was that encryption was absolutely necessary, for their protection and the protection of the public," he said.More communicationHalcovage spoke of criminals listening to scanners and finding out, for example, that a person had been taken to the hospital, leaving no one home.Halcovage also pointed out that Eric Frein, the Monroe County man accused of fatally shooting a state trooper at the Blooming Grove barracks in Pike County on Sept. 12, listened to scanner chatter as he evaded police for more than two months.Halcovage also said the digital radios will, for the first time, allow firefighters from one end of the county to be able to communicate with their colleagues from the other end of the county.Hess said the old analog radios are being phased out, and will be given to fire police.Green said the new digital equipment was needed.Firefighters were not part of the federally mandated narrow-banding upgrade for 911 operations, which cost the county about $16 million and began in 2012.The old system was put in 1977, Green said."It's worn out. It's shot," he said. "The issues are caused by atmospheric conditions and the nature of frequency band it's on. There's more noise out there today from computers and other electronics, and they fall on the lower band, where that equipment is."Every one of the devices emits radio frequency interference. That's all interfering with low band. That's why the fire guys are having more of a problem communicating," he said.