The West Metro Fire Protection District, Wheat Ridge Fire Protection District and the City of Wheat Ridge entered a communication agreement that was made official Monday.
The three entities will combine their communications resources, including frequencies and hardware.
“This is a very exciting moment in the history of the city,” said Joe Cassa, deputy chief of the Wheat Ridge Police Department.
The IGA will allow the three entities to make better use of communications equipment and provide a “reliable, low maintenance communications system,” according to an executive summary of the project.
“This is the best use of funding that we’ve had with a grant,” Cassa said.
The Wheat Ridge Fire Protection District received a $1.6 million federal grant in 2003 as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative. The money was used to replace their 800 MHz analog, trunked communication system with a M/A-COM radio system.
The new system will allow the department to receive Denver Metro Public Safety frequencies and to improve its coverage area. The current coverage rate for Wheat Ridge will be improved by 28 percent, Cassa said.
“On the west side of town, our communications system is not real good right now,” said James R. Payne, chief of the Wheat Ridge Fire Protection District.
The West Metro Fire Protection District also received a $234,517 homeland security grant in 2003 to replace their radio system.
West Metro Fire Protection District has already been able to make better use of their funds using Wheat Ridge’s plans, said Deputy Chief of Communications Mark Krapf.
“We were able to design our system with the same design,” he said.