PENN TWP — A meeting between county officials and some northern township supervisors Thursday aimed to resolve concerns over new 911 radio systems coming this year.

Steve Bicehouse, the county's director of emergency services, along with county commissioners Kim Geyer and Leslie Osche met with officials from Venango, Allegheny and Parker townships during a meeting of the Butler County Association of Township Officials. The meeting was arranged during the association's event for convenience sake, as representatives all gathered at the Butler County Country Club.

County officials wanted to resolve rumors about new radio systems that Bicehouse and the Butler County Communications Council will soon begin testing throughout the county. The northern township supervisors wanted answers to questions they and their local emergency services had about those new radios.

Questions revolved around two points of contention: the number of new radios some departments are getting financial assistance to obtain, and what happens to areas around the edges of the county that are served by a mixture of departments, including some outside of Butler County.

As for the question about the financial assistance being provided for radios, several present said they heard Cranberry Township firefighters were getting more than other communities. Bicehouse explained that they're using the same funding formula throughout the county, and that it's based on the number of staffed vehicles per department. More than 1,300 new radios of various types are all being split the same way throughout the county, Bicehouse said. The county pays 75 percent and the departments pay 25 percent.

“The formula we used for Cranberry Township is the same formula we used for Eau Claire,” Bicehouse said. “The same formula we used for North Washington. The same formula we used for Marion Township. It's all the same. If you had 10 trucks, then you got an allotment based on those 10 trucks. If you got two trucks, it was based on those two trucks.”

Steve Prokay, a Parker Township supervisor, took issue with private emergency companies, such as Butler Ambulance Service, being aided by the same percentage of public dollars as volunteer groups.

Charles Stowe, an Allegheny Township supervisor, asked questions about how it will work when emergency crews from neighboring counties that don't have the same radios are dispatched to emergencies in Butler County. Such is a regular occurrence facilitated by mutual aid agreements.

Bicehouse explained that the county bought a radio overlay system to make sure old radios can still talk to the new system. When out-of-county units head into Butler County, he said, they'll simply need to call in to the 911 center to be patched into the correct communication group. He said it's not dissimilar to what they're currently doing.

Prokay also had concerns with the number of new radios that Emlenton Area Ambulance Service was receiving, as the service frequently makes it to the northeastern parts of the county before Butler-based ambulances. Those present recalled that Emlenton received two new radios.

“I want Emlenton to have the same equipment as everybody else,” Prokay said.

Osche said they had to draw the line somewhere.

“Where would we draw the line as a county?” Osche said. “If we do it there, then I'm going to Kittaning EMS, I'm going to Superior. I'm going down to Freeport. Do you want me to raise the tax to do that?”

The radio overlay is meant to include those other agencies without buying even more new equipment, Osche said. The overlay costs about $159,000 to set up, but Osche said they could've easily spent $350,000 to equip every adjacent department.

Communications crews will test the overlay throughout the county in the coming two months to find any areas that aren't being covered well by the overlay.

Bicehouse said they're hoping to have the county switched to the new radio system in September.

“The bottom line is, we want everybody to be getting the same level of service,” Bicehouse said.