County Commission Still Pondering Decision on Purchase of New Public Safety Radio System (View Video of Meeting Here)

December 29, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Should the county commission sign on to a deal to make a $2.3 million investment under a seven-year financing plan through Motorola Solutions to upgrade its radio communication system for emergency services?

The answer to that question may come during a special called meeting of the commission set for Friday, January, 12 at 6 p.m. to be held at the Mike Foster Multipurpose center auditorium.

During Thursday night’s regular monthly commission meeting, County Mayor Matt Adcock brought up the subject although it was not on the agenda. Adcock said he wanted to give the commissioners a chance to talk about it even if they did not want to act on it Thursday night.

If the county enters into a contract with Motorola Solutions, Mayor Adcock said a revenue source must be identified to fund the annual payments which are expected to be over $346,000. To take advantage of the Motorola offer at current pricing, the county must act before January 19. The new Motorola radios would be under warranty for seven years.

At previous workshop and committee meetings, Brad Mullinax, Director of the DeKalb Emergency Communications (E-911) District, has urged the county commission to begin making plans to update the county’s mobile, portable, and fixed radio transmission technology (replacing approximately 160 portables, 75 vehicle repeaters, and 73 mobile radios) and to join the Tennessee Advanced Communications Network (TACN) which provides first responders the ability to have additional coverage to talk on the radio with surrounding state communication towers during major events and disasters no matter where they (first responders) are located. In order to join the TACN network, Mullinax explained that all county responder radios will need to be replaced.

To help the county offset the first-year cost, Mullinax said the DeKalb 911 Emergency Communications District is offering to make a $300,000 contribution. “We (911 Board) were planning to use that money to purchase new dispatch consoles for our own upgrade, but Motorola has offered to provide our consoles at no cost. As result of that offer to us by Motorola, we can give the county the $300,000 to purchase the radios,” said Mullinax.

County Mayor Adcock said he had asked Mullinax if Motorola would be willing to extend the January 19th deadline on the offer to give the county commission more time to consider it.

“I asked Brad to see if they (Motorola) would be willing to extend the deadline to February. He said they would but that we (county) might not be able to get the same technology such as Wi Fi capabilities that those radios could perform inside buildings (if we wait)”.

“How could we lose technology if we just wait one month” asked Commissioner Glynn Merriman.

Mullinax, who was in attendance at Thursday night’s meeting, responded to Merriman’s question.

“Our Motorola representative said he would extend that offer out to February 19 with the understanding that if we make changes to the scope of the project it may change the price a little bit,” explained Mullinax.

“For example, the scope of the project that we initially included was a certain type of radio, an APX8000 radio which we thought was going to be fine. We went to the school system and found out that they had just recently upgraded their Wi Fi technology inside the schools. Because of that we are going to have to change that model around to get a little bit different radio (to ensure Wi Fi backup capabilities in school buildings),” said Mullinax.

Although the school system is not included in this project, school resource officers inside the school buildings will need to have these new radios for better communication ability.

“These radios are just for public safety (sheriff’s department, county fire department, rescue squad and for EMS portables and base station radios. Mobile radios only that go into ambulances will be supplied by the state),” said Mullinax. “There is no allocation for school buses and school personnel. This is just strictly for public safety. They (schools) can piggyback off the system and utilize it but there are no radios allocated for the school system. There will be a radio for each of the five school resource officers and a mobile radio that goes in their cars with a vehicle repeater,” said Mullinax.

Quinn Sheradon of Motorola Solutions, who was also in attendance at the commission meeting Thursday night, was asked how many years these new radios could be expected to last.

“We usually recommend updating every seven or eight years but you can ask neighboring counties and people are using them for ten plus years. Although this is a big investment, these things are built to last,” said Sheradon.

According to Mullinax, radios are only part of the problem. The larger concern is the county’s communication infrastructure that would be addressed by upgrading its technology and joining the TACN network. “A lot of the portable radios that I see the deputies and EMS carry are not public safety grade radios and they don’t last five, seven or ten years but the biggest problem we have in the county right now is the infrastructure piece of this like the piece on Short Mountain, Snow Hill, and in the Jefferson community. These are the pieces we can’t get fixed if there is a major problem. What we have is very antiquated technology,” said Mullinax.

With the new technology, Mullinax explained that if a site goes down (such as at Short Mountain), the county could transmit off other towers. “In our immediate area and around us there are tower sites all over the place including two on Short Mountain, and one in Cookeville, Mount Defiance near Watertown, and one in Sparta and we have been roaming off these towers. If we were to take a lightning strike at our own tower on Short Mountain, we would be down for a significant amount of time without the new technology. There is also a great edge to being with TACN as far as maintenance of this new equipment. If we had a tornado come through and take out all of our radio equipment, it would not be our problem. It would be the state of Tennessee’s problem. We wouldn’t have to absorb that cost,” said Mullinax.

At the last workshop meeting when Mullinax presented his request, only half the commissioners were in attendance to hear the presentation. Commissioner Tony Luna, who was at that meeting, asked Thursday night if a special called commission meeting could be held prior to January 19 to give all fourteen commissioners another chance to attend to learn more about the issue and the Motorola proposal before being asked to vote on it. Commissioner Myron Rhody added that county department heads should also be included in that meeting.

Commissioner Tom Chandler admonished the commission to think about the issue thoroughly because after seven years, when these radios are paid for and the warranty expires, they may have to be replaced putting the county in the position of having to go through this process again.

“This subject is bigger than just buying some radios,” said Chandler. “There was an issue raised in our audit report about centralized purchasing. To me this looks like a good example for why we should have centralized purchasing. I’m not necessarily saying whether I am going to vote yeah or nay on this particular thing. There is a maintenance issue here with these radios that will spread across the departments. I believe the departments are probably going to raise some issues in regard to that. Radios are expensive. My understanding is that the warranty on these radios is seven years. I think the deal Motorola offered was like $346,000 per year for seven years. Guess what? We are going to be paying $346,000 a year forever because in seven years these radios are going to need to be replaced. And by the way, these radios are not going to be priced at $10,000 each then. They may be $12,500 each or some other number. We need to be conscious of that and we need to be looking at this as a county as to how this is going to be handled. I believe there might be some value in putting the purchase of this in the 911 area because maybe there is some way there to get some funding for the maintenance in support of this through the state. If we were to do this in a centralized way, where does it set in the budget for the county” asked Commissioner Chandler.

Commissioner Daniel Cripps asked that the proposal by Mullinax and Motorola be made available to the commission in writing, and he asked County Mayor Adcock if other and possible better financing options (perhaps through a local bank) could be explored other than through Motorola.

“Would you be willing to call around to some of the banks and find out what the options are for us,” asked County Mayor Adcock

“Whether or not they will tell me I don’t know. I would think that would be something for the internal government,” Cripps responded.

“I’ll work with you on it. We can work on it together if that is something you want to pursue,” replied County Mayor Adcock.

Commissioner Jeff Barnes inquired about the possibility of a seven-year bond to fund the radio purchase.

“I did mention it to Steve Bates (county fiscal agent) about putting it on a bond and he thought that probably would not be the best idea because with the more things you put on there (debt) it may hurt our bond rating. We are already talking about potentially big projects with the jail and school so he (Bates) said because of that it probably would not be best to do a bond for the radios although it is possible to do it. He said it would probably be better to do the Motorola financing plan instead,” said County Mayor Adcock.

Again, even if the county makes the radio purchase through Motorola and enters into their seven-year financing plan, the county will still have to find the funds to pay for it.

“This isn’t going to be paid for with money we have there for it. I think we are able to do the first year because of the $300,000 contribution 911 is offering to us. I believe we (county) could probably supply the other $46,000 out of our capital projects fund for the first year but it’s a matter for the budget committee to find out what our revenue source is going to be to continue those $346,000 payments for the remaining six years. We will have to pull pennies (property tax rate cents) from something else at budget time to pay for it or find new pennies (local revenue) to make up for it. It (funding) has to come from somewhere,” said County Mayor Adcock.

December 29, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The DCHS Tigers defeated James Lawson High School 58 to 55 in the AFLAC Christmas Tournament at Watertown on Thursday.

The Tigers are now 9-7 on the season.

DC trailed 15 to 12 after the 1st period but led 29 to 24 at halftime and 50 to 38 after the 3rd period before claiming a 58 to 55 victory.

Jon Hendrix led the Tigers in scoring with 18 followed by Jordan Parker and Conner Close each with 17, Dallas Kirby 3, Ian Colwell 2, and Seth Fuson with 1.

December 28, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Ally Beneke, a two time state high school jump champion, has become one of the greatest athletes of all time at DCHS and for her feat Ally ranks as among WJLE’s top stories in sports for the year 2023 in DeKalb County.

Beneke, the 2023 DCHS graduate was honored between the DCHS-Warren County basketball games Friday night, December 8 in Smithville for having captured back-to-back women’s high jump state titles in 2022 and 2023. During the presentation, Beneke was presented a plaque for her feat and a banner in her honor was unveiled which will be prominently displayed in the gym alongside those for other star athletes. Beneke was a member of the DeKalb and Warren County cooperative Track and Field program during her sophomore, junior, and senior years. Ally earned her first State Championship on May 26th, 2022 at the TSSAA-DI AAA track meet after jumping a height of 5 feet 6 inches to claim the title. She repeated as State Champion on May 25, 2023 when she cleared a new personal record of 5 feet 8 inches on her final attempt jump at the TSSAA D1-AAA Track and Field State Meet held at the Dean A. Hayes Stadium at MTSU. Beneke is the 20-year-old daughter of Jerry and Kim Beneke and they joined her for the brief recognition ceremony Friday night, December 8 along with her coaches, Jeremy Wilhelm and Kristen VanVranken. Ally is now a student at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville where she is furthering her athletic and academic career on a Track and Field scholarship. Beneke and her family moved to DeKalb County almost three years ago from Michigan when she was a sophomore.

*The DCHS Lady Tigers Golf Team finished in 8th place at the 2023 TSSAA Division 1AA State Tournament. The event was held at the Sevierville Golf Club in October. The DCHS Golf Team had their banquet on Monday, October 30, at Elizabeth’s Chapel Baptist Church. The Girls’ Team finished the season 24-7, winning the District and the Region Tournaments and advancing to the State Tournament. Emily Anderson was awarded the Most-Improved Player. Alison Poss and Chloe Boyd were named Co-MVPs. The Boys’ Team finished 19-14 and in 4th place in the District. Abram Koegler was named New-Comer of the Year. Carson Tramel was Most-Improved. William Blair was the MVP. Brayden Summers was awarded the Leadership Award.

* DCHS Senior, Ian Colwell, wrapped up his cross-country season with a ticket to the Division 1-TSSAA A-AA State Cross Country Championship Meet on Saturday November 4. The race was held at Sanders Ferry Park in Hendersonville. He finished 114th in a talented field of almost 290 runners from across the State. Colwell matched his personal best with a time of 18:27 on a hilly 5K course.

*The DCHS Tigers closed the book on their 2023 football season Friday night, November 3 falling to the Red Bank Lions 30 to 0 on the road in the 1st round of the TSSAA Class 4A Play-offs. The Tigers, who finished as the 4th place team in Region 4, ended the campaign at 5-6 overall. Nine DCHS Football players earned 2023 All-Region honors. The local award winners are as follows: Most Outstanding Linebacker- #9 Ari White- DeKalb County, Most Outstanding Running Back- #15 Malachi Trapp- DeKalb County, Most Outstanding Returner -#1 Ryon Lyons- DeKalb County, 1st Team – #55 Wil Farris, #11 Ty Webb, #18 Briz Trapp, 2nd Team – #2 Jordan Parker, #66 Chris Pulley, and #4 Andrew Dakas,

*The DCHS Tiger Soccer Team had its sights set on a state tournament appearance going into Sunday’s Sectionals (Sub State) showdown, May 28 with visiting East Hamilton, but their dreams evaporated with a 3 to 1 loss to the Hurricanes. Senior Miguel Mata scored the Tigers’ only goal in the 31st minute of play. With the loss, the season for the Tigers ended at 11-7-1 but what a season it was because for the first time in program history the team claimed a region championship and hosted a Sub-State game. Several DCHS Tiger Soccer players were named to the All-District Team: District 6 AA MVP: Yair Mata; Offensive MVP: Miguel Mata; 1st Team All-District: Cooper Brown, Axel Aranda, Cameron Miller, Ryder Miller, Yair Mata, and Miguel Mata; 2nd Team All-District: Adan Ramirez, and Connor Vance.

*Champions! The DeKalb Lady Saints fast pitch softball team claimed the Upper Cumberland Conference District Tournament Championship in April knocking off three straight opponents in the competition at Algood Middle School. The Lady Saints began the competition beating Avery Trace 13-1 and then defeated Upperman 25 to 11 before capturing the district tournament crown with a 12-3 win over White County. Five Lady Saints were named to the All-District Tournament Team including Maggie Hendrixson (shortstop), Brooklyn Fuson (catcher), Liliana Judkins (pitcher), Hannah Brown (center fielder), and Jerusalem Aldino (left fielder). Liliana Judkins was named MVP of the Upper Cumberland District Tournament.

*After graduation, the next stop for Konner Young, the DCHS Tiger baseball team’s talented Senior shortstop will be Greenville University in Illinois. Joined by his family, coaches, and teammates, Young signed a letter of intent Friday afternoon, December 8 to play for the Panthers starting in 2025. Konner is the son of Jeremy and Kim Young.

*DCHS senior basketball standout Conner Close entered the December 12 game against Smith County in Smithville “close” to reaching a milestone. Needing only five points to gain entry to the prestigious DCHS 1,000-point club, Close wasted no time. After just under three minutes into the game, Close had done it scoring the first 5 points of the contest giving his team an early lead and etching his name forever in the annals of Tiger basketball history. The game was stopped momentarily with 5:42 left in the 1st period to mark the accomplishment. Coach Joey Agee presented Close a 1,000th point game ball as fellow players, family, friends, and fans gave Close a standing ovation of applause and cheers. Close finished the night with 15 points and a total of 1,010 for his high school career as the Tigers defeated the Owls 66 to 56.

*Bryan College, known for its award-winning fishing teams, has landed a big catch from DeKalb County High School. Senior Jaxon Humphrey signed a letter of intent Friday, December 15 to further his education career at Bryan in Dayton, Tennessee on a fishing scholarship after he graduates in May from DCHS. It is the first ever fishing scholarship awarded to a DCHS student. Jaxon was accompanied at the signing by members of his family including parents J.D. and Cathleen, and brother Cainnan Humphrey along with his DCHS fishing coach Jeff Taylor, and Bryan fishing coach Mike Keen.

*A DeKalb County High School Lady Tiger basketball star was honored at halftime of the boys game against Watertown in Smithville Tuesday night, January 10. Junior Ella VanVranken, newest member of the 1,000 point club, was presented a 1,000 career point game ball. Ella was joined during the recognition by her fellow players, coaches and family. The Lady Tigers defeated Watertown that night 60 to 51 but the Tigers lost to the Purple Tigers 68 to 64.

*Senior Colby Barnes was named Most Valuable Player of the 2022 DCHS Tiger Football Team during the annual Awards Banquet held Saturday night, January 14 at the Smithville First Baptist Church Life Enrichment Center building. Meanwhile, Hannah Trapp, a senior received the Most Valuable Football Cheerleader Award. The trophies, sponsored by Liberty State Bank, were presented to Barnes and Trapp respectively by Tiger Football Coach Steve Trapp and Cheer Coach Amanda Fuller. Barnes, who set a new all-time season rushing record at DCHS, along with his defensive prowess was a key factor in the Tigers’ success in 2022 as the team completed a 6-5 season and a state playoff appearance at East Hamilton in Ooltewah where the Tigers were defeated 21 to 14 on November 4, 2022. The Tigers finished in 4th place in Class 4A Region 4 at 2-3. It marked the 12th consecutive State Football Play-Off appearance for DeKalb County, the most in school history. For the season, Barnes had 287 carries for 2,073 yards and 19 touchdowns along with 9 receptions for 69 yards and two touchdowns.

*Members of the DCHS Tigerette Softball Team were named to the All-District 7-AAA Team during an awards presentation on Sunday, May 14th after the District tournament championship game was played at Macon Co. Tigerette honorees are Aly Griffith, Bryna Pelham, Morgan Walker, and Aniston Farler. Meanwhile Zayleigh Bain was selected to the All-District 7-AAA Freshman Team. The season for the Tigerettes came to a close as they lost to White County in the losers bracket of the District Tournament. DeKalb County completed a 14-7 season and a 9-3 regular season district finish.

*A DeKalb County High School cross country runner is continuing his love of the sport at the collegiate level. Friends, family, and coaches joined Aaron Gottlied Friday, January 27 at DCHS as the senior star cross country runner, who qualified for state championship competitions throughout his high school career, signed a letter of intent with Milligan University to join the nationally acclaimed Buffaloes.

*Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky has two of DeKalb County High School Football’s finest! Seniors Shadie Rankhorn and Ean Jones, both offensive and defensive linemen for the Tigers, signed letters of intent Friday, February 3 at DCHS to join the Blue Raider program. Both Rankhorn and Jones, who graduated from DCHS in May, were joined at the signing by family members and coaches.

*DCHS Senior Tiger punter Nolan Gottlied kicked his football career up a notch in February! The 2022 special teams’ player of the year for the Tigers and the Region 4 Class 4A Most Outstanding Punter, gathered with family, friends, coaches, and fellow players at DCHS Friday, February 10 to sign a letter of intent to play for Cumberland University. Gottlied graduated from DCHS in May.

*Seven DCHS basketball players received All-District honors in February. The selections were announced Monday, February 13. Conner Close of the Tiger basketball team was named to the 1st Team All-District while Robert Wheeler was selected to the 3rd Team All-District. Elisha Ramos received Honorable Mention. Alex Antoniak made the District’s All-Defensive Team and Jon Hendrix was named to the All-District Freshman Team. DCHS Lady Tiger Ella VanVranken was selected to the 2nd Team All-District as well as the District’s All-Defensive Team and Chloe VanVranken made the District’s All-Freshman Team.

*Junior Conner Close was named the DCHS Tiger basketball Most Valuable Player Saturday night, April 22 at the annual team banquet, while Junior Ella VanVranken received the Lady Tiger MVP honor. Senior Katherine Gassaway is the Most Valuable Cheerleader. The awards were sponsored by Love-Cantrell Funeral Home and presented by Chad and Shelia Kirby. The MVP and MVC awards are named in memory of Kirby’s grandfather Allen D. Hooper. For Close, it’s back-to-back MVP titles as he won the team’s highest award for the 2021-22 season as well. In addition to being named MVP, Close earned awards for being the team’s Best Offensive Player and he was selected to the 1st Team All-District 7AAA. Close also made the DTC All-Star Team. Along with having earned the MVP honor, VanVranken, a member of the 1,000-point club at DCHS, was recognized for having been named to the 2nd Team All-District 7AAA as well as the District’s All-Defensive Team and she made the DTC All-Star Team. State Representative Michael Hale presented to VanVranken a resolution adopted by the Tennessee General Assembly honoring her for having scored more than 1,000 points for her career. Ella scored her 1,000th career point on December 21,2022 in a holiday tournament between the Lady Tigers and Ezell Harding at Wilson County High School in Lebanon leading the team in scoring with 26 points that day in a 56 to 51 victory for DeKalb County.

*For DCHS Senior Elishah Ramos, the high school basketball career he enjoyed so much is over. But for Ramos, a new basketball career looms on the horizon at the college level. Joined by his family, friends, and assistant coach, Ramos signed a letter of intent Tuesday afternoon, May 9 to join the Bethel University Wildcats starting next season. The school is located in McKenzie, Tennessee. As a Tiger basketball standout, Ramos’ role was primarily as a shooting guard and point guard. Ramos said he will look back on his high school playing days with fondness, especially this past year under a new coaching staff in Joey Agee and Cody Randolph.