At its meeting on Tuesday, July 27, Decatur County commissioners unanimously voted to approve a contract to obtain the services of RCC Consultants in obtaining a new interoperable radio communications system for Decatur-Grady E-911.

The Federal Communications Commission is making changes to the VHF bandwidth currently used by E-911 that will essentially require E-911 to change to a different technology or replace all of its users’ wireless radios, County Administrator Tom Patton said. The counties’ officials plan to upgrade to a more modern system, which could cost $2-4 million to implement. They could use SPLOST receipts and possible federal grants to pay for it.

RCC Consultants is a global firm which has a Southeast U.S. office in Tallahassee, Fla. The firm was recommended by the E-911 Committee, comprised of representatives from the two counties and its municipalities, after interviews and scoring of five prospective firms, Patton said.

Other business

In other business, county commissioners:

 Approved, by unanimous vote, proclamations for Ms. Alto Screen and the family of Wise Screen Sr. and Alberta Screen. The Screen family, which is holding a reunion on the weekend of August 8th, has a 147-year history in Decatur County. Ms. Alto Screen, 94, donated land to Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church, following the example of her late parents, Wise and Alberta Screen.

 Approved, by unanimous vote, a low bid of $14,500 from Parker’s Heating and Cooling of Bainbridge for heating, ventilation and air conditioning system for the new visitation room at the Decatur County Prison.

 Approved, by unanimous vote, a memorandum of understanding between Development Authority of Bainbridge and Decatur County and the Corrections Corporation of America, which is seeking to build a privately run prison at the county’s Industrial Air Park off U.S. 27 North.