Fleming County Fiscal Court is looking into replacing radio equipment for the sheriff's office and road department.
Fleming County Judge-Executive Larry Foxworthy said the current radio system used by the departments is on a tower in the Petersburg area of Lewis County and often receives interference or has little reception.
"There is a lot of bleed through," E911 Director Charlotte Benton told the fiscal court recently. "Sometimes it's difficult to get a reception for anyone out in the county."
Foxworthy said the repeaters currently being used are more than 20 years old and are placed too low on the tower.
"We're looking into replacing the equipment and moving them to a different tower while also moving them up higher to provide more reception," said Foxworthy.
"It still won't be 100 percent," Benton said. "But, it will be better than what we have now."
Foxworthy said the fiscal court has approved an estimated bid of $7,800 to change the equipment and $1,400 to reprogram, for a total of $9,500. The bid was from Peterson Radio.
The move is not set in stone, however, according to Foxworthy, since the radio equipment will soon have to be digital while the current radios in Fleming County are analog.
"We just want to make sure that if we do this everything will be ready for the change to digital that will inevitably come," Foxworthy said. "So, for now, we're still just looking into it."
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