City Council held its Strategic Planning meeting Wednesday. While a new fire and police building, already being developed, was a number one priority, out of the blue, and put on the immediate list, were new TACN radios for the police .
Bedford County upgraded to the new TACN (Tennessee Advanced Communications Network) last year. This is a statewide radio system that provides communications infrastructure for local, state, and federal first responders. Once the infrastructure is in place the state maintains the system.
What SPD is asking from City Council is to upgrade to radios that are compatible with the County’s TACN system. In other words, being able to communicate with County law enforcement through this new system.
Mayor Randy Carroll said during the meeting, “We did not know about the radios. Scott and I . . . We don’t want to put you people in that position. We need to get that taken care of.”
Police Chief Jan Phillips said during the meeting that a price has to be secured for the Motorola radios; he’s talked with the County mayor, who said there’s no reason the SPD could not be on the same network (tower, etc.) as the County.
Mayor Carroll asked if there would be any charges for using the tower. It was reported by the chief that as far as they know, there won’t be any charges.
Also discussed during this meeting was that there will be available in the future about 15 acres available near the airport for retail development. This was put on the priority list for the next 5 years.
It was discussed that students who will be attending the aviation academy, hospital employees and persons associated with the court system would all have easy access to such a retail development.
Councilman William Christie placed this as a high priority over the next 5 years.
Read more about Council “smart goals,” and bucket lists chosen for the next 1-5 years in the Feb. 26, Shelbyville T-G.
