By Mark McGregor, Dayton Daily News

ENON, Ohio — Fearing an inability to call for police backup when the sheriff’s office turns off its old radio system in October, Village Council agreed to buy into a statewide, multi-agency emergency radio system.

Council unanimously agreed Tuesday to pay $43,600 to buy and install seven portable and three mobile, in-car, “dual-band” radios.

They’re designed to operate on the Ohio MARCS radio system, which the sheriff’s office will move to Oct. 1 as part of a federal “narrowbanding” deadline coming next year. They also allow for continued communication with agencies still on older UHF/VHF systems.

“Basically, we’re in a mode that if we don’t buy and get in with this, then we have two options: we don’t talk to anybody outside the village of Enon or unless you want to use your cell phone,” Councilman Jerry Crane said.

Interim Police Chief Stephen Walker reminded council of the communication chaos after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the New Year’s Day shooting at Enon Beach campground in 2011.

Agencies had issues with communication in both events.

“You had an incident here in the last 18 months in (your) community where that was a huge issue. The responders to the shooting involving the deputy were coming from everywhere,” Walker said. “This makes absolute sense to me. This is something that we use every single day.”

MARCS, or Multi-Agency Radio Communication System, is a state-sponsored system that allows for interoperability among agencies. It operates in the 800 MHz frequency range, a part of the spectrum that public agencies are required to move to by Jan. 1, 2013.

Council also approved expected MARCS subscription fees of $31 per year per device until June 2014, with costs increasing to $77 in July 2014 and to $150 in July 2015.

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