New South Lake Tahoe communications system; Price tag close to $4M

In the South Lake Tahoe public safety communication system installed in 1965, there are three major problems:

1) There are three systems working totally separately: the police, fire and public works departments;

2) Trees have grown since the system was installed 53 years ago, now blocking signals through the town;

3) Having functioning radio frequencies near water is challenging.

After 9-11, public safety departments across the country started to identify gaps in the systems in times of emergencies. Police, fire and public works departments couldn't talk to each other through radios, just as what is happening in South Lake Tahoe now.

"They ought to be able to talk to each other," said SLT Fire Chief Jeff Meston.

Some of the current issues:

When snow plow operators are in the Stateline area they cannot communicate with their D Street headquarters and calls must be relayed by someone in the middle of town.

If first responders are inside of a larger building in South Lake Tahoe, like Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel, Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort and even Safeway, incident commanders outside cannot speak to them. During an emergency on upper floors at the vacation resort, firefighters went inside to respond but had to go out on a balcony to speak to the command center outside the first floor.

At Safeway last week, the paramedic inside tending to a customer who fall couldn't radio the trucks out in the parking lot. The customer had broken her tibia bone and he needed to communicate the status to the outside truck.

The current system has been updated over the years, "piecemealed" according to Meston and doesn't stretch from Fallen Leaf Lake to Stateline as they need.

Just to get a system that works in South Lake Tahoe will cost between $3.5M and $4M according to Meston, and that's not even getting everything new.

He said what would work for fire, police and public works would be an updated and modernized system. Meston said not all would have to be new as they'd just raise the repeaters over the tree height and make it one system for all three of their department that rely on communication.

The police department has been looking at new radios as many of the officers cannot communicate with the dispatch center. It all depends on what part of South Lake Tahoe the police car is located as to how clear, or not clear, their call will be. The dispatch center hearing the right message is important to not only the safety of the public, but to the officers. Those listening in on scanners from their homes can also hear a system that doesn't always work as it was meant.

"We've learned to work around it," said Meston of their outdated system.

Another thing Meston would like to see added in South Lake Tahoe is a computer aided dispatch (CAD) system on fire trucks. As it is now, those driving and riding on the trucks must know where streets are, the location of fire hydrants on each street, and the size of driveways and length of hoses needed, etc. There is a binder on each truck with that information, and Captain Asbury marked out each fire hydrant on a map, but Meston said the CAD would bring them into the next century and be more efficient, especially when dealing with matters that are life or death.

A CAD system would be another million dollars.

Statewide, fire services are looking at having Geographic information systems (GIS) on all trucks. What was found during the Napa area fires is that nobody knew where all trucks that came from outside agencies were. GIS could determine which truck is closest to an emergency and be dispatched accordingly.

So where does the City find the money?

During the mid-year budget review, the Council voted to provide funds ($100,000) for a second phase of the communication systems analysis by Scientel Solutions. They will assess the City's needs and solutions.

Once that evaluation is completed and a final estimated cost is completed, Meston said they can go out and search for funding partners and bring everything back to the Council.