(Cass County) The Cass County Board of Supervisors this morning voted 3 to 2 for a bond counsel engagement agreement with Ahlers & Cooney to help with the General Obligation Capital Loan Notes for the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System tower and maintenance.
Steve Green, Mark O’Brien and Steve Baier voted yes. John Hartkopf and Bernard Pettinger voted no.
In 2016, the Iowa Statewide Interoperability Communications System project swung into action with Motorola Solutions to provide 95-percent mobile radio coverage within the state. In October 2020, the State of Iowa made a complete change to this new system and no longer maintained the VHF frequency system and towers.
Supervisor Steve Green spoke again about the need to for a tower to boost the overall coverage.
Supervisor John Hartkopf is worried that Motorola will not be around for much longer.
The cost to build an enhancement tower is around 1.7 million dollars and there is a seven-year proposal for maintenance ranging from $90,000 to $100,000.
After discussion, the Supervisors then voted 3 to 2 for a resolution fixing a date for a public hearing on the proposition to authorize a loan agreement and the issuance of notes, not to exceed $2-million General Obligation Capital Loan Notes. Steve Green, Mark O’Brien and Steve Baier voted yes. John Hartkopf and Bernard Pettinger voted no. The public hearing will be held October 29th.
