Bartholomew County has been awarded a federal grant to help offset the cost of upgrading its aging 911 phone system.
The Bartholomew County 911 Emergency Operations Center was awarded $742,040, including $691,200 to upgrade the county’s 911 phone system and $50,840 to upgrade the county’s phone and radio recording system, said Catherine Seat, spokeswoman for the Office of the Indiana Treasurer of State, which is administering Indiana’s portion of the federal grant money.
The grant, called the 911 Grant Program, is funded by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and seeks to help local 911 call centers migrate to digital emergency networks, according to grant program’s website.
Under the terms of the grant, federal funds will cover 60% of the costs of upgrading Bartholomew County’s 911 phone system, or approximately $445,000, while the county and city will divide up the remaining 40% of the costs, or approximately $296,800, said Todd Noblitt, Bartholomew County emergency operations director.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
