Miscommunication costs Town of Huntsville almost $22K

Staff apologized for the mistake

Huntsville Council was advised that department miscommunication is costing the Town almost $22K for a new tower repeater at VK Greer School, in the July 28, 2025, Council meeting.

Staff reported that in 2023 the Huntsville/Lake of Bays Fire Department initiated efforts to improve and update the tower infrastructure, resulting in an adjustment to the repeater to allow for 2 channels, eliminating the one for the Town’s Operations Department.

Their report adds, “The Operations Department has determined the impact to connectivity was inadequate, and to continue efficiency and for the safety of staff, they procured for a repeater for the Port Sydney tower at a cost of $21,710.”

Manager of IT, Ian Parker, explained that the efforts were a part of a Fire Department project to extend services from a single channel to two that would cover both Huntsville and Port Sydney, with the goal to eventually link with Lake of Bays Fire towers.

He added that the intension was that it would also provide the 2 channels to dispatch to Barrie from Huntsville.

However, he said the project went through various changes “and through miscommunication, misunderstanding on a number of parts, it was missed that that repeater was going to potentially be required down at Port Sydney by the Office Department, and that as a result a decision was made for it to be purchased.”

He continued, “Going forward on that particular issue we’ve made an agreement between Public Works and myself that IT will be taking over responsibility for all of the repeaters so that in the future there’s no left hand, right hand potential issues. It’s all being managed through one budget, one team. So that hopefully we don’t see this particular problem happen again.”

“So, our apologies. It was a mistake, and it was an issue. This is a step forward to resolve it,” said Parker.

According to the staff report Committee acknowledges that this will be an “unbudgeted purchase,” and funds for the new repeater will be taken from the IT Reserve and will be added to the Capital Plan and Asset Management Plan.

An additional $1,450 will also be added to the 2027 Draft budget to reflect the annual increase to the capital funding because of the increase in the IT Capital.

Have thoughts on this story? Share your perspective in the comments below.