SALISBURY — County commissioners will consider Monday including Salisbury in its purchase of new 911 radios.
The Rowan County Board of Commissioners will meet at 2 p.m. Monday on the second floor of the J. Newton Cohen Sr. Rowan County Administration Building.
The total budget for the radio purchase is $3.4 million. This will pay for a total of 638 hand-held radios, 302 mobile radios, six mobile radios with equipment and flash upgrades.
The county’s order would come in $128,572 under budget, and the city of Salisbury has requested upgraded radios for its fire department.
Buying 50 new portable radios for the city would cost $185,000.
The difference of $56,428 can be taken from quarter-cent sales tax revenues, said County Manager Gary Page in a memo to commissioners.
The tax was approved by Rowan County voters in November 2009 to pay for the county’s emergency communications project, including radio replacements and a new 911 center.
“The city of Salisbury and the county have been discussing the benefits of 911 consolidation for several months,” Page wrote. “Consideration of their request is warranted and could benefit further negotiations.”
Page said the city last upgraded its radios two years ago. Since then, the county has been working to replace the radios of all other emergency service agencies in Rowan County.
Also at Monday’s meeting, commissioners plan to consider a resolution approving the sale of refunding bonds, series 2011.
The $17.99 million refunding bonds will save the county about $960,840 by refinancing 2003 bonds issued for school construction, according to county documents.