Tiny Stark Co ETSB Trying To Join Peoria Co

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N9IIT

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Stark County (population 5000 people, about 7000 deer) is one of the basic 911 counties that is required to join another county for E-911. Problem is, all but one of the surrounding counties don't want anything to do with Stark County, and Peoria hasn't to date agreed to provide service, but it didn't say no either. So if Stark and Peoria do come to some agreement, Peoria will likely have to add towers on its P-25 system to the north to provide coverage.

https://www.countyenews.com/?p=8956
 

N9JIG

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...So if Stark and Peoria do come to some agreement, Peoria will likely have to add towers on its P-25 system to the north to provide coverage.

Actually it wouldn't have to.

It is just a phone line or microwave link to allow Peoria's dispatchers to access whatever radio systems Stark uses. They do not have to use the Peoria P25 system, they could go to SC21 or retain the existing VHF systems.
 

kraziebill

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Peoria needs to get off that crappy P25 and go to SC21 or something else. That P25 has been pegged with problems since it came online.
 

JD21960

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Tiny Stark Co.

This is a priority for them since they .... "Wyoming IL" in Stark County made national news with that fire. The woman threw her baby out the window onto a car below and saved it but she burned up. I used to live in Lacon, then Chillicothe IL long and know the area. I'm guessing they're hoping to avoid such future scenarios and need help providing faster emergency help. When you live in the middle of nowhere it's tough.
 
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JD21960

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@kraziebill- When I was visiting Peoria/Chillicothe IL in July 2016 last summer I was able to hear their P25 county system ok in Chillicothe. I was out by their library and had my WS1080 with me. It wasn't perfect though. I'm betting a Unicaion G4/5 or other expensive radio is needed to regularly hear things. Starcom21 was much better, yes.
 

NM9X

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Peoria's system is simulcast on 460.0500 i believe... I pick that up in Bloomington but never receive their p25 traffic until I get much closer.
 

kraziebill

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@Johnnydollar2: It's not the listening that's the problem. Yea, it sounds ok when it's working. But, they've had problems with just about everything with the system. From bad lightning protection, failed controller boards, leaking batteries, radio audio level issues, and microwave links that can barely handle a light rain. Then you have the poor planning of the talk groups
 

mws72

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That area north of the Peoria County has the three smallest counties in the Illinois (Population and area). draw a line along the south border of Henry County to the east. south of the line goes to either Woodford or Peoria north goes to Bureau. maybe even get rid that little tail of LaSalle's too. Small counties today just don't have the financial base to do some the things that state or even federal requires anymore.
 

N9IIT

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This is a priority for them since they .... "Wyoming IL" in Stark County made national news with that fire. The woman threw her baby out the window onto a car below and saved it but she burned up. I used to live in Lacon, then Chillicothe IL long and know the area. I'm guessing they're hoping to avoid such future scenarios and need help providing faster emergency help. When you live in the middle of nowhere it's tough.

Actually the communications issues there go further back than that. There was a lot of radio cross-talk when Deputy Streicher was killed in 2002 - responding officers from other counties didn't typically have Stark's frequency in their radio so they depended upon I-REACH. Stark Co Sheriff used (and still does) a UHF repeater when most surrounding agencies at the time (Bureau, Marshall, Henry, Knox, and State) all used VHF at the time, and the VHF radio was back in the squad car as the HTs used at the time were single band, single channel.

and you are right - nowhere firmly describes this area. Lots of old ways of doing things still happen there - for example fire departments were dispatched through use of firephones. You know - call the fire department emergency number and it rings in the firefighter's homes.

SC21 would be a logical solution as there is coverage there for State cars, but at $6K a pop for radios that's quite a bit of money for a county such as them.
 

N9JIG

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Radio and 9-1-1 are two separate issues. Since they don't have 9-1-1 they need to address that. This involves mapping all the addresses, creating an MSAG (Master Street Address Guide) and setting the routing for every address and location in the county. Some places may not even have addresses, they would have to be assigned to them.

For radio, whomever ends up taking the 9-1-1 calls will need to be able to communicate with the deputies, firefighters, EMT's etc. This could be done on SC21, existing networks or otherwise. It is a matter of phone lines, microwave links or some other tech to connect 9-1-1 to the communications system.
 

N9IIT

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Well that wouldn't give them 911 capability for the comm. center. Which I think is the issue?

They don't have a compliant comm center and building one would cost ... well a bunch of money they don't have. The current "comm center" is basically a small desk at the Sheriff's Department with a Motorola base station and a LEADS terminal. The state law in question requires the non-compliant counties under a certain population to partner with a neighboring compliant county.

Rich - when basic 911 went in around 2002, addresses outside of the villages/cities were rural route box. We used township property survey books with every house marked for emergency response. A few years ago, standard addressing was finally brought to Stark, so the old way of "10th house on Joe's Road off Highway 91" finally went away. They're finally in the 20th Century :D
 
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N9JIG

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Rich - when basic 911 went in around 2002, addresses outside of the villages/cities were rural route box. We used township property survey books with every house marked for emergency response. A few years ago, standard addressing was finally brought to Stark, so the old way of "10th house on Joe's Road off Highway 91" finally went away. They're finally in the 20th Century :D

When we built the MSAG for our community (residential suburb) we had similar issues with places with no addresses we had to create, like train stations, parks and others. We also had issues with the post office "city" being different than the political boundaries. Parts of our neighboring town had PO addresses in our town due to a former village that was abolished a hundred years ago and absorbed by the two towns. A couple hundred people in the next town that had our address had no idea they lived in the other town, they thought they were in ours.

My in-laws live in rural Kentucky (think moonshine and coal mines) and they had no addresses up in the hollers. Their holler didn't even have a name, the 9-1-1 Board had to assign it and then give house numbers to all the trailers and shacks. They still don't have mail delivery but at least they have an address and a sign at the base of the holler with a street name now.
 

N9IIT

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So Stark County needs some bailing wire, duct tape, and some bubble gum to fix their current radio system:

https://www.countyenews.com/?p=11600

Sheriff informs board of aged radio costs

Sheriff Steven Sloan reported that his office has been experiencing radio squelch problems recently over the past four to six weeks. He believes this is due to the age of the radio system’s antenna and wiring. Repairs could cost approximately $1,200. A cost of rewiring the antenna could push that figure past $1,300 to $1,400.
 

N9IIT

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That bailing wire and bubble gum is getting a lot more expensive:

https://www.countyenews.com/?p=11833

Sheriff Steven Sloan informed the board that he continues to work on establishing an emergency 911 system for Stark County. Sloan said, “Bureau County is having problems with money, also. They really don’t want to take us on, but they want to wait until after March’s primary (election) to see if our Public Safety Sales tax passes.”

Sloan has spoken with the State of Illinois E911 coordinator who told Sloan that if Stark County can find another county to aid in the E911 system, the other county can do the plan and the grant for Stark County. Sloan has also communicated with Knox County in regards to establishing the E911 system for Stark County. They will meet in mid-February. He plans to report the results to the Stark board during March’s meeting.

The radio system for the Sheriff’s Office continues to have problems. The aged antenna and wiring causes static and low volume intermittently. A new antenna and wiring is required to repair the problem the system has been encountering. The cost is approximately $5,800 for repairs and replacement of the antenna and wiring. Work will begin on this project at the end of January.

My guess is Supreme in Peoria (/\/\otorola dealer) is doing the work.
 

N9IIT

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So a little update on this - it appears Stark is going to partner with Marshall on E-911. Marshall is being a reluctant partner on this as it appears there's no state funding for Marshall to take on the extra work but Stark can't afford to pay what Marshall considers their fair share.

Unfunded mandates. Gotta love Springfield.
 
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