Firehouse.com

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Sep. 30--York County is planning to install two new communication towers to improve the reliability of the county's new 911 radio and paging network in southwestern York County.

The county commissioners on Wednesday unanimously approved moving ahead with the two new towers after hearing complaints from emergency responders in southwestern York County last week who were unhappy with the new network's performance.

They said last week that radio reception is unreliable at fires, inside homes and on the streets of Hanover and West Manheim and Penn townships. The paging system, meanwhile, sometimes fails to alert firefighters, they said.

Commissioners said they had little choice but to ensure the firefighters and ambulance personnel had a system they could rely upon.

The total cost of adding the new towers is expected to reach $1.8 million.

But the county will only pay up to $1 million after Harris Corp., the company that sold York County the system, agreed to provide $1.4 million worth of radio equipment for $600,000, said Chuck Noll, county administrator/chief clerk.

The two new towers will be built in Hanover and West Manheim Township.

Emergency responders who attended the commissioners' meeting Wednesday said they were happy with the decision.

"Anything that can be done to improve our situation is a help," said Hanover Fire Commissioner James Roth.