Every political subdivision in Butler County signs an agreement with the Board of Butler County Commissioners to participate in the radio system.

WHEREAS, R.C. 5502.261 provides:

“A board of county commissioners that has entered into an agreement to establish a countywide emergency management agency may appropriate money from its general fund to support the functions and operations of the agency, including the development, acquisition, operation, and maintenance of a countywide public safety communication system and any communication devices, radios, and other equipment necessary for the system’s operation and use. Money appropriated under this section may be expended to purchase and maintain the assets or equipment of the agency, including equipment used by the personnel of other political  subdivisions that have entered into the agreement with the board establishing the agency. Money also may be appropriated under this section directly to a political subdivision that has entered into the agreement with the board establishing the agency, to enable the political subdivision to purchase communication devices, radios, and other equipment necessary for the countywide public safety communication system’s operation and use.”

WHEREAS, the Board of Butler County Commissioners and all Butler County political subdivisions who are being provided radio equipment for the countywide 800 megahertz radio system have entered into an Agreement with the Board establishing the countywide Emergency Management Agency; and

WHEREAS, an event that impacts public health, safety, and welfare of residents and requires a public safety response may sometimes: (1) require a response which exceeds the capacity of a local government or the county government to respond; (2) not be confined to a single local government jurisdiction; and (3) begin in one local jurisdiction and move to another within or outside the County- such as in pursuit of a fleeing suspect;

WHEREAS, any event requiring a public safety response requires communication and coordination between and among the responders in order to maximize the effectiveness of that response and thereby advance public health, safety and welfare;

WHEREAS, mutual aid agreements exist throughout Butler County in order to allow one local jurisdiction to provide another with public safety assistance but experience has shown that the available communication systems do not interoperate to such an extent as to achieve maximum coordination between and among the various local jurisdiction responders; and

WHEREAS, because it is foreseeable that a sudden and unexpected event will occur which will exceed the capability of a single local jurisdiction to respond and thus require it to request mutual aid from the county or other local jurisdictions, the county and all its local jurisdictions have decided to improve their communication capability between and among each other now for the benefit of the citizens of Butler County; and

WHEREAS, providing a single, county-wide interactive communication system ,
communication equipment, and training in the use of that equipment for the county and those units of local government in the county willing to agree to engage in multi-jurisdictional mutual aid and coordination is necessary, reasonable and prudent;

NOW THEREFORE FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION of the mutual promises and considerations set forth herein, the Commissioners and the joining political subdivision do hereby bargain, promise and agree as follows:

To continue reading, download a sample Participation Agreement (in PDF or DOC).  This is a sample only.  The agreement must be customized to fit the jurisdiction’s name.  Exhibit C includes some law enforcement and fire officials names added for each jurisdiction. Everywhere where a repeated code exists, “@@”, the political subdivision must insert its own name– such as the City of Fairfield, the Village of Somerville, or Fairfield Township.

The agreement also includes a number of exhibits which may include information unique to a political subdivision.  Exhibit A, for example, lists the initial inventory of subscriber equipment being provided to the particular political subdivision.

Get Adobe ReaderExhibit D to the Participation Agreement (PDF) includes resolutions establishing an advisory board to liason for users of the system.

Sample Resolution

Click below to download a sample township resolution to approve the participation agreement.  You will need to adjust the sample to account for the political subdivision name, local officials names and date action taken.

Sample Resolution Approving Participation Agreement (DOC)