By Associated Press - Sunday, September 24, 2017

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - The city of Lincoln is behind schedule on the debut of its new public safety radio system, but the city’s public safety director says it’s not the contractor’s fault.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Public Safety Director Tom Casady hoped to implement the all-digital system next month and retire the city’s 30-year-old analog system. But city officials just learned that two of the three radio tower sites don’t meet federal regulations and will have to be fixed.

Casady said the launch will likely be delayed until spring as city purchased put a bid out for new tower footings this fall.

The system was purchased with funds raised from the quarter-cent sales tax bond initiative Lincoln voters passed two years ago to fund public safety improvements, such as four new fire stations and a new police substation.

City officials have purchased land for three of the four fire station sites and are negotiating with a landowner for another piece of property.

Casady said those projects are being funded on a “pay-as-you-go” basis by sales tax receipts of more than $1 million a month. He said the three-year bond initiative is expected to raise more than $37 million and expected to end October 2018.

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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star, https://www.journalstar.com

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