Central Dispatch upgrade completed

A five-year, $3 million project undertaken by St. Joseph County Central Dispatch was completed last month.

Director Dennis Brandenburg said the process led to the agency’s transition from Very High Frequency to Ultra-High Frequency, an 800 megahertz system.

Brandenburg said including St. Joseph County, about three-quarters of the state’s 83 counties now operate on a system featuring the UHF signal.

A key piece of the $3.7 million undertaking involved the construction of a communications tower on land owned by the St. Joseph County Conservation Club in Sherman Township. Other costs were related to replacing all radio consoles at the Central Dispatch facility, and furnishing portable radios to all sworn police officers and active members of the county’s fire departments.

Funding needs were met when county voters two years ago approved a one-quarter of a mill increase from Central Dispatch’s levy of 0.75 mills to 1 mill.

St. Joseph County’s digital system went live a month ago.