$610,000 OKd for Police-Fire Radio

Joining other cities backing the purchase of an 800-megahertz radio system for police and fire departments countywide, the City Council agreed this week to pick up $610,000 of the project’s $70-million tab.

The city will pay its portion over five years, starting with $60,920 this year and peaking at $256,869 for fiscal 1997-98.

The council had agreed earlier to support the system, but in the wake of Orange County’s bankruptcy filing, county officials asked municipalities to pay a larger portion of the total.

Reluctantly, council members agreed Tuesday to do so, recognizing that the current 23-year-old law enforcement radio system is outdated and overloaded.

“We need that system in place, and that’s the priority,” council member Helen Wilson said. “The more delay incurred, the worse [the system] gets, so we just have to bite the bullet.”

Lake Forest has already set aside $579,138 in a special radio equipment fund and will pay its share from that, rather than finance the purchase.