Independent Emergency Services of Hutchinson was awarded a contract for $54,459 to provide public safety answering point computer hardware and software equipment to Mower County.

Wednesday, August 04, 1999

Independent Emergency Services of Hutchinson was awarded a contract for $54,459 to provide public safety answering point computer hardware and software equipment to Mower County.

With the action Tuesday, the county moves a step closer to a complete upgrading and overhaul of its emergency 911 telephone and radio communications systems.

Mower County Sheriff Barry J. Simonson and Mike Frerichs, project manager for GEO Comm, Inc. of St. Cloud successfully made the PSAP presentation at Tuesday’s meeting.

One other bid from 911 Emergency, Inc., was disqualified because it did not participate in a required demonstration in early July. The other, U.S. West Communications, was almost double the approved low bid.

"All have good, solid equipment that is highly reliable," Frerichs said.

Wayne Goodnature, who owns his own computer hardware/software firm in Austin, inquired if the bidding was advertised locally and Craig Oscarson, county coordinator, assured him it was.

Granting a contract to Independent Emergency Services of Hutchinson marks a continuation of a long string of GEO Comm, Inc. recommendations for the commissioners to accept out-of-the-area bids for the upgrading of the county’s emergency communications capabilities and Goodnature has previously registered his opposition to the practice.

According to Sheriff Simonson, the law enforcement center’s communications staff wanted specific upgrades that drove the price upwards, including a touch-screen monitory capability.

Simonson agreed with Frerichs’ high praise for the Hutchinson firm’s bid. and predicted the new PSAP equipment could be installed and operational by November.

The sheriff also said the signage of the county could also be finished this November after Michael Hanson, county engineer, finishes writing the specifications and bids are taken and one accepted.

The mapping and addressing of the county is complete with new addresses assigned every rural resident. In addition, county-wide paging is also in use by the various emergency services units in Mower County, according to the sheriff.

With the enhancements made to the county’s emergency communications system, Simonson said the biggest advantage may be the speed in which vital information can be relayed from the victim at the scene of an emergency to the appropriate emergency service.

The new upgrades will increase that speed of information from 35 to 50 seconds of response time to 5-7 seconds, according to Simonson.