Consultant drops fees to help area fire departments in communication upgrade

With the near completion of the Dubois County Communication’s upgrade, the county’s 12 fire departments were facing some unexpected expenses after the council declined to pay last month.

According to Emergency Management Agency Director Tammy Humbert, after the communication’s upgrade was complete, they realized the department’s radios would have to be reprogrammed for the new frequencies. TUSA Consulting Services, the consultant guiding the county through the upgrade, estimated the reprogramming would cost about $4,625.

In April, Emergency Management Agency Assistant Director Gary Fritz and Commissioner Larry Vollmer requested the council approve advertising for $5,000 to cover the cost of the programming. With the budget deficit looming over every decision, the council told the pair the fire departments would have to pay for the reprogramming on their own.

Humbert appeared before the council on Wednesday to request they allow them to move funding from the line item for the consultant’s fees to cover the cost to reprogram the 12 departments’ radios. Humbert told the council TUSA had agreed to waive $5,000 of the remaining consulting fees to cover the costs.

Humbert explained TUSA made the offer because the radio reprogramming should have been part of the original package for the upgrade.

“We’re just asking that you reconsider,” Humbert told the council about the unexpected expense for the fire departments. “Our fire departments are volunteers and they really work hard for what they do.”

Humbert pointed out the fire departments rely heavily on fundraising for many budget items and this was a consequence of the county’s decision to upgrade the system.

The council agreed to allow the money to come from the consultant’s fees in a 6 to 1 vote. Greulich, who questioned the need for the expense last month, was the lone dissenting vote.

In closing, Fritz told the council there should be no other unexpected expenses in connection to finishing the communications upgrade.