Published December 12, 2007
Matagorda County is close to being one of the first rural counties in the state to have its emergency personnel — from the sheriff’s office to the school districts — capable of communicating with each other.
The county has applied for a $1.2 million grant to complete its radio interoperability plan, a state-wide initiative to improve interagency communication.
“We’ll be the first rural county in the state if we can get funding for this,” said Matagorda County Judge Nate McDonald.
The county is a “good fit,” for the grant, said McDonald, who attended the Texas Homeland Security Conference in San Antonio last week along with other county representatives, including Bob Watts, emergency management coordinator for the county and Joe Enoch from the South Texas Project.
He and the other Matagorda County representatives met with Chief Jack Colley of the Governor’s Division of Emergency Management, who gave them a strong indication that the county is a good contender for the grant.
Threats to the county include hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding — and the county must be ready for a nuclear event — all of which pique the interest of the state’s emergency planners, McDonald said.
“Our county has special needs,” McDonald said.
The county’s excellent emergency operations already in place also help contribute to its chances of securing the grant, McDonald said.
The county has already used more than $2.5 million in grant money to build the infrastructure it needs to accommodate cross-agency communication, Watts said.
This grant would finally put radios in the hands of emergency personnel that will work across every agency, Watts said.
“A Bay City officer said something to me once that has always stuck with me,” Watts said.
That officer said that if he ever found himself in trouble, he wanted to be able to send a call for help that could be answered by whoever is closest to him, whether it be a sheriff’s deputy or a public works employee.
In the past, agencies in the county have not had that ability, Watts said.
During the Sept. 11, 2002 terrorist attack in New York and again during the Hurricane Katrina disaster, emergency personnel came to realize that they needed to be able to communicate with one another, regardless of their agency.
“Every major disaster demonstrated a common problem,” Watts said.
Switching everyone to a common system has been no small task, because cities, sheriff’s offices and other emergency agencies have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in their radio systems, Watts said.
Matagorda County is close to being one of the first rural counties in the state to have its emergency personnel — from the sheriff’s office to the school districts — capable of communicating with each other.
The county has applied for a $1.2 million grant to complete its radio interoperability plan, a state-wide initiative to improve interagency communication.
“We’ll be the first rural county in the state if we can get funding for this,” said Matagorda County Judge Nate McDonald.
The county is a “good fit,” for the grant, said McDonald, who attended the Texas Homeland Security Conference in San Antonio last week along with other county representatives, including Bob Watts, emergency management coordinator for the county and Joe Enoch from the South Texas Project.
He and the other Matagorda County representatives met with Chief Jack Colley of the Governor’s Division of Emergency Management, who gave them a strong indication that the county is a good contender for the grant.
Threats to the county include hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding — and the county must be ready for a nuclear event — all of which pique the interest of the state’s emergency planners, McDonald said.
“Our county has special needs,” McDonald said.
The county’s excellent emergency operations already in place also help contribute to its chances of securing the grant, McDonald said.
The county has already used more than $2.5 million in grant money to build the infrastructure it needs to accommodate cross-agency communication, Watts said.
This grant would finally put radios in the hands of emergency personnel that will work across every agency, Watts said.
“A Bay City officer said something to me once that has always stuck with me,” Watts said.
That officer said that if he ever found himself in trouble, he wanted to be able to send a call for help that could be answered by whoever is closest to him, whether it be a sheriff’s deputy or a public works employee.
In the past, agencies in the county have not had that ability, Watts said.
During the Sept. 11, 2002 terrorist attack in New York and again during the Hurricane Katrina disaster, emergency personnel came to realize that they needed to be able to communicate with one another, regardless of their agency.
“Every major disaster demonstrated a common problem,” Watts said.
Switching everyone to a common system has been no small task, because cities, sheriff’s offices and other emergency agencies have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in their radio systems, Watts said.