Josh Peters, president of the Fire Chiefs Association, told the council he had updated a spreadsheet to include responses from EMS agencies and 17 police departments about equipment needs for the county’s new radio system.

Peters said the spreadsheet shows total radios already purchased equal $7,008,000 and that $19,718,000 in radios still need to be purchased. He told councilors that 34 police departments responded with eight identified as school-district or collegiate departments, and that the Northampton County Sheriff’s Department was included in the tally.

When asked which agencies had not responded, Peters identified Freemansburg Fire, Blue Valley Rescue and Nazareth Regional EMS as non-respondents. He also clarified that the North Catasawakas ("North Caddy") agency is merging with Catasawakas Fire Department in Lehigh County and has historically operated on the Lehigh County system.

Peters said the purchase purpose is “so we can all effectively communicate on the new system.” Council members asked for clarification about which entities had or had not replied and about how school and college departments were counted.

No formal action or vote on procurement was recorded in the hearing transcript; Peters presented the spreadsheet as an informational courtesy-of-the-floor comment.

Sources: Josh Peters, Fire Chiefs Association presentation to Northampton County Council (transcript).