— by Jim Ghiglione, Lopez Fire Chief, San Juan County Fire District #4 —
When I first began my work as your Lopez Island Fire Chief July 1, 2008 I was challenged to improve communications for our first responders and thereby improve public safety for all. This has been a tall order given our rugged and remote landscape, federally mandated radio frequency realignments that resulted in two way radio communications going from bad to worse and the fact that, until OPALCO came forward, no one was willing to make the infrastructure investment necessary to serve our unique rural community. There are large communication gaps on Lopez – and throughout our island communities that: prevent our first responders from getting a call, delay care for our sick and injured citizens, isolate our first responders (including OPALCO linemen) who routinely put themselves in dangerous situations to serve the community and limit our team’s ability to deliver services.
A few short years ago a man suffered a cardiac event while biking on the island; his companions tried to use their cell phone to call for help but had no signal. There was a delay of over 5 minutes before they could contact the 911 center and by the time we arrived the victim had died. Two years ago there was an industrial accident and the worker died; fortunately his coworkers did have a cell signal, contacted 911, we were dispatched and our Medic and EMTs revived him, were able to contact the on call physician and the receiving hospital using the cellular phone. However had this accident been 200 yards further down the road, there was no cell signal.
Now, thanks to OPALCO and Rock Island Communications the first big step to helping meet my mandate to deploy and implement a solution to close the communication gaps. With the expansion of OPALCO’s electric and fiber grid and Rock Island Communication’s wireless deployment, we are on our way to a higher level of public safety. There are some on Lopez who will object to the poles that are going up (in accordance with the County’s Joint Use Wireless Facilities code) – but I cannot lose sight of the critical need to strengthen emergency communications for our entire community, for the safety of our EMS and fire volunteers and lose the opportunity to create a true county-wide safety net.
Thank you, OPALCO leadership, for choosing fiber 15 years ago, your commitment to safety and raising the quality of life in our island communities and your cooperation with the EMS community. Thank you Rock Island Communications for your expertise in building and managing the wireless solution to reach into some of our remote corners. Thank you for helping me to do the job that I was hired to do.
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I think its great that the EMS community is going to have better communication options.
But, what about the rest of us who have a cell phone in our pocket so we are able to call for help?
Unless I’m wrong, OPALCO’s system is NOT going to provide general cell phone service. So it doesn’t do any good if the EMS people can communicate if the general public can’t call for help in the first place.
The example of the bikers on Lopez not being able to call 911 is not fixed at all with this system.
Chris – While OPALCO is not going to provide cell phone service, our system does provide a good platform for cellular service. As the grid expands and these 38 poles are installed and activated with power and fiber backhaul, the attractiveness for a cell provider to make an investment in our rural area increases exponentially.
So I’m confused. OPALCO can build out this public safety communication system costing millions of dollars, paid for by the electrical membership, and then cell phone provides can come in after the fact and give us cell phone service on these same poles? Something I’m sure they have wanted to do for a long time, except San Juan County has crazy regulations on cell towers.
I guess it’s OK for OPALCO to put in these 68 poles, but not OK for corporate america to do the exact same thing and pass the cost on to their customers who use the system, vs OPALCO members who I’m sure will not get the same return on investment.
Also, is the County or EMS services paying for any of this capital expense? Seems like if it’s a shared system, the capital costs should be shared as well.
I was told that the customers of OPALCO were not paying for the loan given to the internet company. However I was reading the OPALCO site and is it true that i am being charged $3 a month for this loan. or was that just a proposal?
Melissa: All members are paying $3/month for 24 months as a start-up capital investment in our wholly-owned subsidiary. This amount is included in the 2015 rate increase. We’ve been clear about this piece since the beginning: https://www.opalco.com/news_article/submarine-cables-revenue-shortfall-drive-rates-up/ – and, it’s understandable that you may have missed it with the high volume of information currently in circulation.
Chris: I’m confused – are you upset because cell coverage improvement isn’t a part of Rock Island’s business plan (your comment about EMS communications) OR are you upset because cell coverage will actually be a possibility – facilitating the “biker on Lopez to call 911” and “the general public to call for help” ?
Point of correction: the wireless communications plan calls for 38 utility poles county-wide.
OPALCO has had pole-top lease agreements for decades with telephone and cable TV companies. If a cellular provider wants to co-locate equipment on our poles, there will be an agreement on how the Co-op gets compensated and that compensation will benefit the membership in our cost-of-service business model.
Also note that if any cellular company were willing to make the investment to bring improved cell service to San Juan County (which you seem to be in favor of) on their own, their model would be to build the huge cell towers that you see up and down I-5 – or see the examples at the Orcas Landing and Lopez airport.
However, if a company decides to co-locate with our local utility, they would be limited to working with us on our standard poles (about 80′) and meeting the terms of the JOINT USE Wireless Facilities code that our county worked so hard and long to pass.
EMS are paying their way. There is a significant capital investment of about $700,000 (total, spread across agencies) required of public safety organizations in order to get this county-wide land-mobile radio (LMR) system up and running. Rock Island is coordinating the effort and providing a shared platform through access to infrastructure but it’s no free ride.
Ms. Olson –
Thank you so much for working so hard and patiently (most of the time) to help us all understand the issues and respond to concerns. These are complicated issues and the costs are obviously important to many. This really helps me feel I am better informed and better listened to than previously.