New Cell Tower being build is set to help First Responders with Communication in Santa Cruz County

The northern part of Santa Cruz County is known for its remote location and beautiful coastal views, but for law enforcement it’s known to have spotty cell reception.

“Historically our north coast has been a relatively underserved community. We have recently put a substation up there to have deputies up there now and the old communications system was broken down. Communications vary, the ability to communicate vary from day to day up there,” says Santa Cruz County Sheriff, Jim Hart.

The County reached an agreement this week with the company CEMEX to build a new cell tower at the company’s property in Davenport.

Sheriff Hart says communication is key for safety and responding to emergencies, “It’s a remote area so when somebody needs help it takes a while to get up there, if a deputy needs help, it takes a while to get additional staff up there, but to be able to communicate those needs is extremely important. I think this is a really big step forward for both the sheriffs office and the county, as well as showing what a good partner CEMEX is by providing this lease opportunity for us.”

County officials say they know how important communication is for deputies and other responding agencies and this tower will help with that. “When our law enforcement officials are doing search and rescue operations they need to be able to talk to each other and this tower will allow that,” says Jason Hoppin, Santa Cruz County County Spokesperson.

CEMEX which is now located in Texas sent out a statement saying they are happy to help Santa Cruz County. “CEMEX remains part of the community, even though our cement plant is no longer in operation,” said Edmond Prins, CEMEX USA Director, Real Estate. “This agreement is expected to assist Santa Cruz County first responders communicate effectively to protect the people of the County’s North Coast when those residents need help the most. We’re proud to assist with this essential infrastructure improvement to help our neighbors.”

The construction is expected to start in Spring of next year in hopes of the tower being up and running by the end of Summer 2018.

Hart says this will not only help law enforcement, but the community too, “I really feel good going into next summer that our deputies will be able to talk to one another, talk to a dispatch center, and better serve the community up there.”