Lyon County Sheriff

Public Safety is recognizing changes to emergency radio interoperability with the Allied Radio Matrix Emergency Response (ARMER) 800 MHz radio system.

ARMER is a common acronym discussed in many Public Safety Departments, including county sheriff and county commissioner's offices throughout the state of Minnesota. The reason for the attention is that the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is mandating narrow-banding of all of the currently utilized VHF frequencies that are used by law enforcement, fire, EMS and public works throughout the country by Jan. 1, 2013.

The state's ARMER radio system's goal is to simplify and provide the ability to talk with your neighboring and regional counties and state agencies for emergency services and disaster/emergency relief incidents. This is accomplished by using a radio system that is uniform and standardized among all the users in all the regions utilizing the radio system.

A SW MN Regional Radio Board and SW MN Radio Advisory Committee both consisting of sheriffs, police chiefs, city council and county commissioners in the 13-county southwest Minnesota area, including the cities of Marshall and Worthington, has been formed to study this issue as well as developing interoperability amongst these and other radio group users throughout the region and state.

In recent reports from the Department of Public Safety, 58 of the 87 counties are moving toward the ARMER radio system, or commonly called the State of MN ARMER System Backbone. Many of the remaining counties are still in review with decisions to come soon.

The radio boards have been meeting monthly along with state radio and ARMER officials since 2008 to find the best possible solutions for radio interoperability and address local radio needs.

From the studies that have been completed thus far, the State funded ARMER radio system seems to be the most sensible option to provide both interoperability and meet local needs. Obviously, this has gained a lot of attention for counties and local emergency responders because of the effectiveness of the current and future radio systems in each of the respective departments.

Lyon County currently has an aging legacy VHF radio system and experiences poor portable radio coverage now in many areas throughout the county. Along with enhanced interoperability means among the radio users in the region, the State supported ARMER 800 MHz radio system is designed to enhance reception and coverage for the emergency responders.

Many county and city officials are justifiably concerned about the new technology mandates relating to the cost of a radio system overhaul. All the preliminary numbers are not in at this time as to the overall costs for Lyon County to move to the system, but the state and federal government are offering a number of grant opportunities that are cost-saving to local governments.

Lyon County and the City of Marshall have already utilized available grant opportunities and have received roughly $68,000 in equipment grants and approximately another $30,000 in funds for studies of infrastructure and movement towards the ARMER radio system. We are also currently waiting on county-wide FEMA fire aid grants to again aid in minimizing the overall expense of the project.

As the process continues, I will again write to update the community about the radio interoperability in which our law enforcement, fire. EMS and public works services rely on daily.

If you have questions regarding the Jan 1, 2013, mandate by FCC you can go to informational Web sites www.srb.state.mn.us and locally www.swmnradio.org or contact me at markmather@co.lyon.mn.us or by phone at 507-537-7666.