For more than a year, Christian County officials have been working to finish out a multi-million-dollar emergency radio project that — when completed — will allow comprehensive communication for first responders and law enforcement alike.
More steps were taken this past Tuesday, when fiscal court passed a resolution that allows county leaders to return to the bond market for a $270,000 one-time change and eventual reimbursement — creating a more permanent microwave location, rather than leasing other property at $25,000 a year for the next decade.
Noting both the City of Hopkinsville and City of Oak Grove have made “sizable investments” to the front, Judge-Executive Jerry Gilliam offered a concise explanation of the change.
Emergency Management Director Randy Graham said this will require a move from a “guided standing tower” with guide wires on Old Madisonville Road, and shift the signal to a Christian County Water District water tank in Merrittstown near the Square Deal area.
This location, he said, allows for the signal to see both Dawson Springs Road and Jennie Stuart Health “with ease,” especially since they will be using the old TV 43 site as a hop anyway, and he called this a “better move” because it moves details back into county infrastructure while inevitably lowering costs.
Magistrate Russ Guffey also brought forth some clarity on the arrangement.
Graham added that the entirety of the project should be complete by “late January, early February,” and that any delays would be, at best, mild.
Christian County Fiscal Court normally would not have convened just before Christmas, Gilliam admitted, if not for this and a few other pop-up matters, as the body next meets January 13.
