KENT—The Board of Selectmen held a special session Tuesday, June 24, to hear an issue of “urgent concern.”
Kent Volunteer Fire Department Chief Alan Gawel said that because of a recent upgrade in radio transmission equipment at Litchfield County Dispatch, the primary public safety dispatch service for 22 Northwest Connecticut towns, Kent’s older radios no longer work on the same frequency for emergency alerts.
“All our radios have an orange button, so if a firefighter is in a building and can’t speak, he can hit the button and it sends out an alert,” Gawel explained. “It’s called the ‘man down button’ and it’s a big priority for a firefighter in a building to be able to access [that channel]. Our current radios are older radios and are not compatible with the new LCD system. If a firefighter takes one into a structure and hits the button, it doesn’t respond.”
Gawel said “failure of communication is the leading cause of firefighter fatalities,” and that having predictable communication is the “highest priority” of a command officer.
Selectman Lynn Mellis Worthington asked if the problem had been anticipated. Gawel said that he had spoken with Dan Soule, executive director of LCD, who said they did not know the problem would arise. Discussion with multiple vendors of such equipment has suggested that some improvements can be made, but there is “no complete fix,” partly because of the age and model of Kent’s current radios.
Gawel added that other Northwest Connecticut towns are having similar problems.
Additional problems are caused by gaps in cell tower coverage throughout Kent’s hilly terrain.
“When they switched radio frequencies they made significant improvements in other areas,” he said, “but problems can arise because not every transmitter location was replaced.”
Gawel said that the tower at the town garage is a significant problem. “We’re trying to figure it out,” he said, “but we will need help from the first selectman [and the broadband committee] to deal with coverage for the town. The coverage problems are affecting emergency response and [the situation] is escalating because of that. We need to figure it out very quickly.”
Fire department representatives met with the broadband committee in May and the possibility of another tower was discussed, “but we’re in the very beginning stages,” Gawel said.
The need for dependable transmissions is not just a problem for the fire department. Gawel said the Public Works Department, Emergency Services, and the selectmen need to work together to ensure that any money invested in an equipment upgrade works for all.
“Let’s not waste resources and money,” he urged. “We need communications for both the fire department and public works,” he said.
With one tower at the town garage and the town’s emergency management now located in town hall, a reallocation of antenna space is needed and Gawel urged that things should be renewed with the availability of fiber optics in mind.
There are “significant gaps” in coverage in North Kent that additional towers can alleviate. “We will need help from the selectmen and muscle from the first selectman to get the attention from tower owners,” Gawel said. While some services are mandated by the Siting Council, the cost of buying space on a tower can be exorbitant.
The town has already planned to fund new radio equipment and other improvements in the capital plan at the rate of $125,000 in 2026, $75,000 in 2027 and $25,000 in 2028.
“We put the money in under ‘system,’” Gawel said, “because we knew system updates were coming, but no one knew what the change would be. We made a guess collectively with the board of selectmen and board of finance that we would need $200,000 and hoped the money would be enough.”
But now, he said, the need is more immediate and he asked that the first $125,000 be moved forward to the current fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The fire department is also conferring with the towns of Goshen, Warren, and Cornwall—all experiencing similar problems—to look for grants.
“The four departments are interested in moving forward with a joint grant application,” he said, explaining that the larger mass of four towns applying together might be taken more seriously. “We’re told that when you go for a bigger grant, it works better,” he said.
He cautioned, however, that these grants largely come through FEMA “and we all know what is happening there.”
President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem want to dismantle the disaster response agency altogether at the end of this year, leaving states to fend for themselves.
First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer agreed that the issue should be brought forward into this year and said he would take it to the board of finance this week. He also suggested that the Northwest Hills Council of Governments, which covers 22 towns, might be a good source for obtaining grant-writing services and support.
As for towers, Lindenmayer said it is possible that Kent’s state legislators can help in bringing the “muscle” needed to get placement on more towers at an affordable rate.
“Sharon, Falls Village, Salisbury, North Canaan—they’re all in the same boat,” agreed Gawel. “We wanted to inform you early on that what we believe we need to do is access some of the money planned for radios and at least get started.”
