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7 <br /> 1 extent. These towers can also be used to expand other services such as internet, etc. There <br /> 2 would be multiple uses for these towers. <br /> 3 Commissioner Hemminger said that she is ok with this funding as a placeholder for now <br /> 4 while they wait for the Emergency Services Work group recommendations. She wants to make <br /> 5 sure that these are estimates and placeholders and not definitive things. She wants the work <br /> 6 'group to come back with recommendations. <br /> 7 Commissioner McKee said that the points are well taken. <br /> 8 <br /> 9 Communication System Improvements: <br /> 10 Paul Laughton went through the various improvements. There is an option of <br /> 11 establishing County service districts as a way to pay for the radio replacements. This is on <br /> 12 page 33. This project would also be reviewed by the work group. <br /> 13 Commissioner McKee said that he has several issues with this project. He said that with <br /> 14 800 mHz radios, the fire departments currently provide funding and buy the radios out of their <br /> 15 own budgets. He has a question regarding why the fire departments are looking after their own <br /> 16 needs and now the County is suddenly taking over that particular part. <br /> 17 Emergency Services Director Frank Montes de Oca said that either the County could <br /> 18 purchase the radios or the departments could purchase their own radios with the specifications <br /> 19 that match up with the radio system. Alamance County mandates the kind of radios that are <br /> 20 bought so that they are compatible. His concern is that there are several departments <br /> 21 managing their own radios and buying from different manufacturers, and there may be a <br /> 22 compatibility issue. <br /> 23 Commissioner Foushee said that she is fine with an option being presented, but it just <br /> 24 seemed to her that with decisions such as this, she would have thought that this was an issue <br /> 25 that the work group would have been charged to review. <br /> 26 Chair Pelissier said that does not necessarily have to be done through the County <br /> 27 budget, but it can be an agreement that everyone makes. <br /> 28 Commissioner McKee said that he is not aware of compatibility issues with departments' <br /> 29 radios, but he will know all of this by tomorrow afternoon. <br /> 30 <br /> 31 Future Emergency Services Stations: <br /> 32 The first year has $50,000 for planning and assessment for future locations. No <br /> 33 locations have been determined at this point. This would be a charge to the work group for <br /> 34 recommendations. Years three through five, there is a new station at $500,000 each for the <br /> 35 land and construction. In years 6-10 there are two additional substations. This would be a total <br /> 36 of four substations over the next ten years. <br /> 37 <br /> 38 <br /> 39 Conservation Easements: <br /> 40 Paul Laughton said that $250,000 a year is going to these from the General Fund <br /> 41 starting in year two and continuing each year thereafter. <br /> 42 Commissioner Jacobs said that when the Board did a bond in 2001, they were told by <br /> 43 the Bond Attorney that they could not do conservation easements with bond money because <br /> 44 there would be no public access. That is why it had to come from a different source. <br /> 45 <br /> 46 Eurosport Soccer Complex: <br /> 47 Commissioner Jacobs said that this has been a very successful project as far as usage <br /> 48 and it was put there for economic development purposes. <br /> 49 Commissioner Yuhasz asked for a measure of the economic benefits of this. <br />