City-county feud could slow 911 response updates

With no end in sight to a dispute over where to put a necessary tower, southeast Broward County residents may have to do without the benefits of a new public safety radio system.

The system could go live without a planned Hollywood tower, which would allow the rest of the county to take advantage of the new system while the county and Hollywood battle over the last site.

County officials say 15 of 16 antenna sites will be ready by early next year and the towers can be programmed to work without the last Hollywood site. The antennas are used by police, firefighters and other emergency responders to communicate via radio with dispatchers and each other.

“We can do that and litigate at the same time,” Broward Mayor Mark Bogen said. “We need to do something, and we need to move. We’re jeopardizing the safety of this county.”

Southeast Broward would have coverage without the tower — just not as much, officials said. The Hollywood site antenna would provide stronger signal strength in the surrounding area, which has added importance when police are communicating by radio from inside buildings, and it would provide redundant coverage if a problem were to arise with another nearby antenna.

The county has been pushing to have a 325-foot tower erected in West Lake Park, while Hollywood officials want the antenna placed on top of a downtown high-rise, the Circ Hotel and Residences. The city and county agreed to put the decision in the hands of an independent, thirdparty consultant, which in August favored the West Lake Park site.

The location seemed to be settled until last week, when city officials were outraged when news came out about a proposed

land swap that they said they knew nothing about and which the county still needs to build at West Lake Park. County officials said they had mentioned a land swap during discussions with the city.

The county charter prohibits the use of county park land for non-park purposes. The county can get around the prohibition by having a city take possession of the West Lake Park site and lease it back to the county.

The county is doing a deal with Tamarac. The county is buying an $890,000 park property in Davie, which it will give to Tamarac and which Tamarac will use to swap for the West Lake Park land. Tamarac will then lease the West Lake Park site to the county for $62,400 a year.

Hollywood residents said the city had been snookered by the county. City commissioners at a special meeting Monday voted to have their attorney look into how the city could rescind its agreement with the county.

“To me, this was a matter of trust that I think was violated,” Hollywood Commissioner Dick Blattner said at that meeting.

On Tuesday, Broward commissioners moved forward with the land swap, while city and county staffs will continue to meet to see if some compromise can be reached — or begin taking legal action.

The land swap is now up to Tamarac commissioners, who are expected to vote on the proposal Wednesday. If Tamarac commissioners were to reject the proposal, the county would then need to find another city willing to do a swap for the West Lake Park land.