Coffey County emergency management updates towers, hires communications technician

Coffey County emergency management reported work on multiple radio tower sites and secured a unanimous commission vote to hire a full‑time communications technician.

The commission heard that the Leroy tower has been stacked and a shelter containing equipment is expected to arrive in late February; a separate Levo tower shelter was scheduled to arrive Feb. 23. Gridley remains behind schedule because crews must wait for warmer weather to pour concrete, though rebar has been delivered and crews completed horizontal drilling to run fiber under private driveways. Emergency Management staff said necessary FCC paperwork has been filed for the new sites.

Deputy director and RAD officer Kayla Rhodes, introduced at the meeting, said she started in December and is “looking forward to working with a lot of the community partners” after moving from Pennsylvania. Rhodes described local coordination with neighboring counties and said she is focusing on public outreach and partnership work.

Officials described upgrades to county radio infrastructure. Motorola provided an upgrade to new ‘6‑pack’ equipment, and staff said the county will have a simulcast capability so local towers can continue operating if the state system is unavailable. County staff said Motorola hopes to test the upgraded system by March.

County emergency management also told commissioners it is seeking a vendor to install cameras on tower sites tied into the county’s existing camera systems and to add door and HVAC alarms that will alert dispatch if equipment rooms are accessed. A single camera installation was estimated at about $3,000–$4,000; staff said the cost is included in the emergency management budget and that the sheriff’s office split the cost on a demonstration camera already in place.

The commission approved a payroll CP2 notice to hire Austin Lees as a full‑time communications technician, effective Feb. 2, 2026; the published notice included a wage (transcript: “wage classification 50 five‑five, wage 30.05 per hour”). The motion to authorize the chairman to sign the payroll notice passed 4–0.

Staff also announced a public National Weather Service storm‑spotter presentation set for March 11 at 7 p.m., moved to the Neustrong Community Building/Center because the usual 4‑H building was unavailable. The talk will include a meteorologist overview of severe‑weather recognition and a Q&A.

No further formal actions were taken during the emergency‑management portion of the meeting. The next steps described by staff are completing power hookups at tower sites, installing the shelter equipment, selecting a camera vendor and working with Motorola toward system testing.