County reaches new heights with Harris P25 radio tower system In 2018 Orange County in consultation with Federal Engineering procured a modern Project 25 (P25) compliant Land Mobile Radio System resulting in a contract with L3Harris, valued at just over $8,000,000. The P25 Radio Project will enable the following groups to utilize cutting edge communication technology: Orange County E - 911 Center, Orange County Sheriff ’ s Office, Orange County Fire & EMS, Orange County volunteer fire and rescue companies, the Town of Orange Police Department, the Town of Gordonsville Police Department, the Lake of the Woods Security, and Orange County Public School Transportation and Administration personnel. The new system guarantees 95% coverage with portable radios on the hip and in the street in the county. The County ’ s current system provides approximately 17% coverage. The new system consists of five (5) greenfield tower sites at the Barboursville Collection Site, Mountain Track Road, Macon Road, Government Center Drive, and Wilderness Shores Way. In addition, the tower at Clark Mountain and a water tower at the intersection of Route 20 and Flat Run Road will also host P25 radio equipment. The majority of the towers are 195’ self - supporting structures with 20’ x 11’ shelters secured by fencing. The entire system is connected via a vast fiber and microwave network to ensure proper uptime and redundancies.
As of autumn, 2020, almost all of the tower sites have been constructed. Vehicle upfitting of patrol vehicles, medic units, fire apparatus, school buses, and other fleet components will take place in the winter of 2020 - 2021. Construction, testing, and cut over should be complete by early spring 2021.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors has committed to improving public safety technology through the P25 system, Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), and Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) for response vehicles throughout the fleet. The combination of the P25 radio system, CAD and MDTs will enable our first responders to have access to real time information through text, voice, data, and maps to respond to all types of emergencies.
Page 5 | October 2020
Page 5 | October 2020
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