By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
GENEVA — A new tower may be constructed on city property to assist the multiagency radio communications system in filling in “blackout spots” in the county’s emergency radio system, Geneva Fire Chief Doug Starkey said.
Starkey outlined the proposed deal for the multiagency radio communications system (MARCS) tower in the regular Geneva council meeting Monday evening.
At the insistence of Ashtabula County Sheriff William Johnson, several municipalities under county dispatching services were required to phase in the MARCS system in 2008.
Geneva-on-the-Lake, Andover, Jefferson, Orwell and Roaming Shores paid thousands of dollars to upgrade to MARCS radio system to comply with the sheriff’s department’s standards. The Ashtabula Police Department also upgraded to MARCS hand-held radios. The Ohio Department of Transportation, Northwest Ambulance District, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Department, and Ohio State Park employees all use the MARCS system, Starkey said.
The Geneva Township trustees offered MARCS officials 10 feet of available space on the township’s cellular tower to help with the spotty coverage. Plans were made to use the township tower, only to find out MARCS needs 30 feet of tower space, Starkey said.
“It would cost a substantial amount of money for that 30 feet of space,” Starkey said.
Now, MARCS officials have their eye on the city’s John McCroden Memorial Fire Training Center on Austin Road, where land is available for the construction of a 180-foot tall tower, Starkey said. Plans for the tower, which is well over the city’s height restriction, will need to be reviewed and approved by the Geneva Planning Commission before construction, City Manager Jim Pearson said.
“There are three towers in the county for MARCS, and we will be the fourth,” he said. “We are in talks now, as MARCS does some studies to make sure the slight move from the township to the city won’t affect the original plan for the tower.”
Geneva Police Chief Dan Dudik said while city police and fire do not use the MARCS system for dispatching services, Northwest Ambulance District employees use the system when they travel into Trumbull Township on emergency calls.
Starkey said the city also has several hand-held MARCS-compatible radios and pays a subscription fee to link up with the MARCS system.
Pearson said the city may be able to negotiate a break in the MARCS subscription fees for hand-held radios and also may receive income from any commercial ventures that use the tower.
