Construction of the career academy and high school hasn’t been the only work site for huge cranes recently.
A tall crane has been at the county law enforcement center erecting a new communications tower. The $750,000 tower, which was needed to comply with the new Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System (ISICS), is being installed at no expense to county taxpayers.
The ISICS provides a radio system that reaches the entire state.
The tower is being built by Verizon Wireless for its mobile network. The county and Verizon signed a land lease agreement that nets the county $6,000 a year in rent for the land on which the tower stands, and a one-time payment of $9,000 to mount communications equipment on the tower.
Verizon’s desire for a taller tower came at the right time for the county because the ISICS requires more tower height than the existing tower had.
Sheriff Jack Williams said the new tower has already enhanced the reach of local law enforcement radios. He said that when he was approached by Verizon about the tower, he saw an opportunity to save Greene County tax dollars and to meet the state radio standards.
