AUBURN — The three-member Androscoggin County Commission is planning an emergency meeting Friday to consider spending almost $100,000 for a new radio dispatching console.
The console coordinates radio signals between deputies across the county and dispatchers in Auburn. It also handles radio traffic between the dispatchers and several small town police and fire departments, including those in Mechanic Falls, Livermore Falls and Sabattus.
“The problems are beyond what the experts can repair,” commission Chairman Randall Greenwood said Thursday.
Greenwood called the Friday meeting — scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the county building at 2 Turner St. in Auburn — after meeting with Sheriff Guy Desjardins.
On Thursday, Desjardins submitted a letter to the commission calling for emergency action.
Problems in the 1980s-era radio console worsened on Monday, when an officer tried calling for additional help at the scene of a fatal traffic accident on Route 202 in Greene.
He was unable to reach a dispatcher on his radio, Desjardins said.
In his letter, the sheriff called it “another significant breakdown in communications.”
“Traffic was extremely heavy and my deputy needed immediate assistance for traffic control and protecting the scene and the many bystanders,” he wrote.
“While reviewing the recording of that call, I found that precious minutes were wasted while the deputy on scene was trying to communicate to his dispatcher that help was needed but his request went unheard,” Desjardins wrote. “The dispatcher on duty had the forethought to call the deputy by cellular phone and help was on the way from the Lewiston police Department.”
Replacing the console would cost $97,000 according to an estimate from Maine Radio, which installs many of the dispatching systems in the state.
If commissioners choose to spend the money, it would virtually empty a $100,000 contingency account created for emergencies, Greenwood said.
dhartill@sunjournal.com
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