Lowellville to get new transmitter site to fix 911 woes

July 14, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

By jeanne starmack

lowellville

Mahoning County will add a transmitter-receiver site to solve the problem of inadequate 911 radio communications in Lowellville.

Clark Jones, the county’s emergency management director, said county commissioners have agreed to apply for a license for the new site, which will be on Knox Street in Youngstown.

Lowellville Mayor Jim Iudiciani and police Chief William Vance have complained that police cannot hear dispatch calls on their portable radios and they can’t use them to call for help.

Lowellville is one of 13 departments in the county that use the county’s 911 system.

The problem does not affect the fire department because it uses a different dispatch system.

Jones said the county will apply for a license with the Federal Communications Commission next week.

The new transmitter- receiver will cost $34,000, he said. He said the commissioners have not yet indicated where the county will get the money.

Lowellville has problems with radio communications for three reasons, Jones said: FCC-ordered narrow banding, resulting in a decrease in signal strength; old 911 equipment; and the town’s geographic low point.

Jones said it’s likely the FCC will grant the license. The application process takes six to eight weeks.

“We’re confident it will provide a solution to Lowellville,” Jones said. “The technology is available.”

“Well, I’m elated, if that’s all it’s going to take,” Iudiciani said Friday. “The sooner the better.”