Sterling council packet outlines proposed radio-logger renewal with Phillips County
The proposed renewal would let Phillips County record law-enforcement, fire and EMS traffic on Sterling’s system, with shared costs, secure access and one-year retention.
A proposed renewal would let Phillips County record its law-enforcement, fire and EMS radio transmissions on Sterling’s Emergency Operations AIS Radio Logger, which Sterling staff say has storage capacity the county lacks.
The item was listed for “direction and possible action” at Sterling City Council’s July 14 meeting. The council packet describes it as a renewal of an existing arrangement. The available record does not show whether the council approved, amended or rejected the proposal; it includes no minutes, vote tally or signed agreement.
How the arrangement would work
Sterling owns and maintains a logger with enough storage capacity for both agencies, while Phillips County does not maintain one with sufficient capacity, the packet says. Phillips County would access only its own traffic through a secure virtual private network maintained by Platinum Technologies, an IT provider used by both agencies.
The agencies would share annual maintenance costs based on their previous-year calls for service. Phillips County would reimburse Sterling for upfront VPN setup costs, and each agency would remain responsible for its own equipment and internet connectivity. The staff memo says the arrangement would have no financial impact on Sterling’s budget.
If the connection failed, Phillips County could request recordings of its traffic from Sterling until service was restored. During a long-term disruption, county-designated personnel could receive individual-login access to Sterling’s NICE recorder on site to reconstruct and produce county recordings.
Limits and unresolved questions
The agreement would take effect “until further notice,” with either agency able to withdraw for any reason with 90 days’ notice. Recordings would be retained for one year. Neither agency could reconstruct, produce or release the other agency’s recordings without prior written approval.
The available record does not include a final executed agreement or a dollar estimate for annual maintenance shares, so the proposal’s final status and cost to each agency remain unclear.