A regional public safety radio system was front and center during a Mathews County Board of Supervisors work session  on Nov. 7.

At the request of Sheriff Mark Barrick, Greg Hunter presented a proposal for a Mathews radio system. Hunter is emergency services coordinator for King and Queen County, radio system manager for the Upper Middle Peninsula Regional Radio System, and program manager for the statewide Virginia Communications Cache Program.

Hunter said that King and Queen County had installed an expandable trunked radio system in partnership with Essex County. Richmond County joined the system later as a subscriber. A governance board oversees the regional system, said Hunter, with each partner locality having several seats on the board.

Hunter said that it’s not in the best interest of the small localities in the region to individually build $5 or $10 million radio systems, so a regional partnership of public safety communications is the best option. King and Queen ...