Catoosa and neighboring western counties will benefit from Homeland Security grant.

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue announced $20 million in Public Safety Interoperability Communication Grant funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security April 9.

“We are very proud that we were selected as one of only four recipients to receive this communication grant in Georgia,” he said. “This represents three years of work by Catoosa County and our neighbors in Hamilton County to achieve our goal to design and implement a true regional communication system.

Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office, representing the Northwest Georgia Interoperability Communication Network, was chosen to receive $5.77 million. The network includes Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties.

“With Governor Perdue’s announcement, I feel the emergency services of Northwest Georgia won the communication lottery,” he said. “We are excited and are prepared to move forward in implementing our regional plan.”

The focus of the network is to develop a regional communication system in conjunction with Chattanooga and Hamilton County, according to Sheriff Phil Summers.

Catoosa County is already in partnership with Chattanooga and Hamilton County in its communication system.

The grant will allow the other two counties to join Catoosa as part of a regional communication network, Summers said.

Sheriff Summers presented the grant application for approval of matching grant funds last fall to Catoosa County Board of Commissioners.

Summers told commissioners then that the grant is an 80/20-project match by the counties involved.

“We are beginning to build for the future and want to complete that by adding a tower on White Oak Mountain,” he said last year.

He said in an interview April 11 that the additional tower will allow Catoosa’s communication system to become a simulcast system, with the towers picking up and sending signals to dispatch from both the existing tower on Taylor’s Ridge and the new tower.

“The new tower will improve communications in Keith, East Brainerd and into Graysville,” he said.

He said when Walker or Dade counties take advantage of the funds and build towers; those steps will enhance Catoosa as well.

“We are planning on one tower in Dade and hoping for two if the money holds out,” he said. “We will put two in Walker and hopefully they will have the money for a third.”

Towers in Walker will help Fort Oglethorpe and Lakeview areas, he said.

Summers said earlier that Catoosa could benefit between $1.5-2 million of the total funds with other grant funding available to other counties. He said that grant monies are good until 2009 and is hoping that both counties will be able to take advantage before the deadline.

“They don’t have a lot of time,” he said.

Catoosa is ready to move forward; Its 911 Board is meeting soon to move forward. He said $400,000 in matching funds is included in the upcoming SPLOST referendum and if that should not pass in September the county has a back-up funding plan.

He said the state is moving towards building communication infrastructure along the interstate corridors.

“That is why we were fortunate to land the funds,” he said. “We have already applied for additional grant funds to put towers in Dalton and the south end of Walker to cover part of Chattooga.”

He said that representatives in Floyd County and Rome are already discussing becoming part of the system as well.

When complete it will allow for interoperability across the region allowing agencies to talk more effectively with each other, he said.