Communications Tower Project

The current location for the Quincy Police and Fire Main Radio Transmit site is located at the former Quincy Hospital. The existing equipment is well beyond its useful life, and with the former hospital slated for demolition, now is the right time to build a modern communication system at an appropriate location. 

Radio Communications are essential for the Police and Fire Departments to do their jobs. When residents call 911 the incidents are dispatched over the radio system. This allows the Public Safety Agencies to respond to and communicate when a call comes in regarding an incident such as a house fire, car accident, gun shooting, or medical emergency. The radio system is the lifeline for Police and Fire when they are enroute or onsite at an incident.

The City’s existing radio network is antiquated when looked at through the lens of today’s technology; some city equipment is no longer serviced by its original vendors.  More importantly, the current location does not provide reliable coverage everywhere Quincy emergency personnel operate.  Siting the new tower in a location that guaranteed coverage throughout the entire City was essential.

Selection Criteria:

The new Radio site location needs to provide radio coverage equal to or better than the existing Radio site. In selecting a new location, there are several important criteria required for a new location.

  1. Location – Central location within the City to allow for proper communication with external sites
  2. Height - Highest elevation possible
  3. Cost, security and access - City owned and maintained property
  4. Least impact to local residential neighbors
  5. Power Utilities and Fiber connections readily available.

Working with Representatives from the Quincy Police and Fire Departments and consultants Tighe and Bond several sites were evaluated. The site selection process included physical site surveys, propagation studies for radio coverage, balloon tests for visual impacts, and NEPA screenings for historic significance.  Topographic considerations eliminated any sites with lower elevations than the dog park; central proximity considerations eliminated other sites further to the west that could not provide reliable connectivity to the City’s peninsulas and harbors.

The Old Water Tank site off Avalon Drive is the only site that meets the required criteria needed. The site is centrally located, is at one of the higher elevations in the City, the property is owned by the City, has the least impact on local residential neighborhoods and would not impact any historic site. 

The conclusion is that the old Water Tank site is the only viable location for a Radio tower that meets the criteria needed to provide reliable radio coverage required for mission critical communications for the Police and Fire Departments.

Communications Tower Safety

Motorola Solutions designs, builds and tests all its products according to international assessment standards to meet nationally and internationally recognized exposure standards.  These standards protect against potential adverse health effects by including substantial safety margins.  Compliance with these standards provides a sound scientific basis for confidence in the safety of products using RF energy.

The exposure assessment standards for wireless portable devices used around the world have been established by the IEEE and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).  These standards create strict methodological requirements for testing products for compliance with specific absorption rate (SAR) limits.  

Stationary or mobile equipment that transmits RF energy, such as base stations, antenna sites or wireless access points, are covered by exposure guidelines based on the same scientific knowledge as the limits applied to portable radio products. For exposure to antennas at a far distance, the limits are in terms of power density (milliwatts per square centimeter), instead of SAR for portable devices operated near the body. Generally, due to the height of antennas, stationary network equipment produces RF exposure levels for members of the public that are typically hundreds or even thousands of times below established exposure limits.  

Motorola Solutions continues to sponsor independent studies through the Mobile Manufacturers Forum (MMF) to increase scientific knowledge about the safety of RF energy.  Through continual research, experts continue to reach a common conclusion: RF exposure within established guidelines poses no known adverse health effects.

Project Documents

Below you will find important documents pertaining to the Communications Tower Project.

Communication Tower Presentation
Communication Tower Presentation(9.47 MB)
Propagation Coverage Maps
Propagation Coverage Maps(3.2 MB)