Franklin County completes 911 tower construction, but radio system is not yet ready for testing

Franklin County has finished building all three towers for its new 911 radio system, County Manager Terry Harris told the Board of Commissioners at its May 26 work session. Crews were installing the radio-system equipment, with some equipment already placed inside the tower buildings, Harris reported. The announcement marks the completion of the project’s tower-construction phase, while the communications system itself remains short of a documented test or launch.

The project concerns countywide public-safety communications infrastructure intended to support 911 radio operations. Towers are a visible and necessary part of that network, but their completion does not by itself show that responders can use the system. Equipment must be installed and the network tested before the county can establish whether it is operating as intended, leaving the practical timetable for full implementation important to residents and emergency-service users.

Harris’s May update shows the work has moved beyond construction planning and tower erection into the installation stage. With all three structures complete, crews had begun putting the equipment needed for the radio network into place, including equipment inside the tower buildings. That sequence matters because the county’s anticipated testing comes after, not alongside, the remaining installation work; the May report projected testing could begin by the end of 2026.

County officials, represented in the work-session update by Harris, described the completed towers as progress toward the new 911 radio system and said equipment installation was underway. The record does not include a competing position, public objection, or a board vote on the project at that meeting. For residents and the public-safety agencies expected to rely on the network, the central question is whether the remaining installation and testing will produce a functioning countywide system.

Tower construction was reported complete as of May 26, and equipment installation was described as active work rather than a future proposal. Testing, however, was only anticipated by the end of 2026. The work-session report does not say that every component has been installed, that testing has begun, or that the system has entered service; it is a progress update, not certification that the network is operational.

The next public milestone will be a county update showing whether equipment installation has advanced and whether testing has started or been completed. No specific test-start date or final activation date was given in the May report. Until the county documents those steps, the timing of full implementation—and whether the new 911 radio system is operating—remains unresolved.