Tioga County Emergency Services Department Breaks Ground on New Radio Communications Tower

OWEGO, NEW YORK – On Friday, April 4 th, Tioga County Director of Emergency Services Corinne Cornelius escorted Town of Richford Supervisor Charlie Davis, District 7 Legislator Keith Flesher, Tioga County Chair of the Legislature Martha Sauerbrey, and Tioga County Administrator Jackson D. Bailey II, on an in-person site visit to the Town of Richford, to celebrate the ground-breaking of the first of four new Radio Communications Towers being constructed in Tioga County.

This is a very exciting step in the improvement of Public Safety communication across the County and the overall
improvement of interoperability with other public safety partners and agencies.  Director of Emergency Services
Cornelius explains, “Currently, radio transmissions can be very broken between local police, fire and EMS to the 911 Dispatch centre, which can be extremely dangerous for the responders and also delay response time to and for
Tioga County citizens”.

During the week of April 1st, 2025, Tioga County vendor Motorola Solutions, Inc. and their contractor, Patriot
Towers, Inc. started by clearing the site location and framing up the anchor system that will hold the tower.  Due to
the bedrock that is close to the surface of the ground, the anchor system at the site will require large rods, placed
in concrete to ensure long-term stability for the tower.  Over the next few weeks, the rest of the foundation will be
formed, and concrete will be poured before the tower steel arrives and the tower is erected.

Tioga County Chair of the Legislature, Martha Sauerbrey, states, “This is a huge step forward for the Radio
Communications Tower Improvement project, as well as a testament to the work of the Tioga County Emergency
Management Office. The Tioga County Legislature continues to fully support this project and realises the
importance of interoperability and communication between public safety agencies across the County as it relates
directly to the well-being of its citizens.”

The new system is anticipated to be completed by mid-2026.