Lane County has won $1.9 million to upgrade its emergency communications system.
The grant - $1 million in federal funds and $900,000 in matching state funds - will pay for radio upgrades.
U.S. Representative Val Hoyle, who worked to secure the federal portion of the grant, said the gaps in the region’s radio system put both first responders and rural communities at risk.
The funds were a congressional earmark in the 2024 Omnibus Appropriation bill.
“Making sure that we’re investing in emergency management communication is critical,” she said. “We also want to make sure that we are more resilient as we’re going into more extreme weather caused by climate change.”
The most rural areas of Lane County have limited signal - such as the McKenzie River corridor, as well as remote patches in the south part of the county.
Lane County Radio Systems Manager Michael Harman said that has meant first responders have to leave one person at the edge of a signal zone to stay connected, or go into an emergency with no way to call for backup.
“If they need additional resources,” he said, “or heaven forbid, something bad happens, they don’t have a way to let the 911 Center know what they need.”
The grant will cover the costs to replace the aging tower at Bear Mountain and upgrade radios at 10 rural fire districts.
Harman said the upgrade should make emergency communications more resilient and significantly shrink the current gaps in service.
Hoyle has also requested funds for emergency communications projects in Benton and Douglas counties for Congress’s next round of grants.
This story was changed on May 29, 2024 to clarify that the federal funds were a part of a congressional appropriation.
