Council Works Out Radio System Funding

The City Council this week approved a plan to finance Brea’s share of a new $80-million radio system that will link police, fire and emergency departments across the county.

The new 800-megahertz system will replace Orange County’s deteriorating 18-channel network with 61 channels. Brea’s share of the total is $2.5 million.

The city already has about $1 million, mostly from narcotics asset forfeiture funds, deposited with the county. Another $500,000 for the system has been set aside from money collected from the sale of items used in drug trade.

The remainder, about $1 million, will be raised through bonds issued by a county financing agency, the council decided Tuesday. The bonds will be paid back over 10 years, officials said.

City and county officials have been planning the emergency communications network for more than 10 years.

Before the county’s 1994 bankruptcy filing, the county and participating cities had worked out a plan by which the county would pay 45% of the costs and the cities would pick up the rest.

But because of losses stemming from the bankruptcy, the county amended its plan and said it could cover only 39% of the project’s costs, leaving the cities to pay more than they had planned.

City officials said they are pleased to see the project moving forward. The radio system is expected to be in operation in 1999.

“Currently, our police, fire and maintenance services cannot communicate with each other in the field,” said Tim O’Donnell, assistant city manager. “They are totally separate. This [system] will fix that.”