Cape Girardeau County decommissioning former communications system

The Cape Girardeau County Commission has voted to pay $9,840 to a Pike County, Missouri, company to finish the job of taking out of service the county's voter receiver program — formerly used for sheriff's office and fire protection district communications.

A&W Communications of Eolia, Missouri, was awarded the contract Thursday to remove the remaining equipment from the old system at seven sites.

The county will tap unencumbered 911 funds to handle the cost.

Cape Girardeau County, as of October, is fully switched over to MOSWIN (Missouri Statewide Wireless Interoperable Network).

MOSWIN, by any metric, is a superior communications system, according to Mark Winkler, Cape Girardeau County emergency management agency director.

"The age and reliability of the voter receiver equipment was an issue as was the difficulty of getting replacement parts when it became damaged," said Winkler, who added MOSWIN offered the county better reliability.

Winkler said the EMA office already took out voter receiver equipment accessible at ground level but now needs A&W's resources in order to take out microwave dishes, antennas and coaxial cable at higher elevations.

Winkler added at the time of last fall's changeover to MOSWIN, only three of the seven voter receiver sites were functioning properly.

The voter receiver equipment was originally received in 2011 through a U.S. Homeland Security grant.

Winkler said the county will seek to auction the outdated hardware and return to the federal government the amount due.

Appointment

Commissioners approved Mona Copeland of Cape Girardeau to join the county's 13-person mental health board for a term ending Dec. 31, 2024.

The board administers a fund with revenue collected from the county's 0.0773-cents mental health levy.