McLean County IL Weighs $19.25M Motorola Radio Rebuild (2026)

McLean County, Illinois took preliminary Motorola pricing on Sept. 22, 2026 for a countywide police and fire radio rebuild that would cost between $9.65 million and $19.25 million, plus annual fees above $800,000, according to WGLT. The project would replace the county's Starcom radio system and fix dead zones that Sheriff Matt Lane says have been unusable for 20 years.

What McLean County Is Considering

The county's Emergency Telephone System Board met Sept. 22 and reviewed Motorola pricing for a system replacement. The numbers on the table:

• $9.65 million to $19.25 million in capital cost, depending on the option chosen
• More than $800,000 a year in ongoing fees
• Options that add three, four, or six towers to the system
• Motorola simulcast technology, which the county has been evaluating for about six months

The wide price range is the story. A three-tower build and a six-tower build are different systems, and the board has not picked one.

The Dead Zones That Started This

Sheriff Matt Lane, who chairs the ETSB, named the coverage holes directly: areas near McLean, Heyworth, parts of Downs, the stretch north of Route 24 around Chenoa, Anchor, and the Spin Lake area. Those zones have been unusable for two decades, he said, and there are dropouts even inside Normal near the Meier store.

That is what a radio gap looks like in practice. Deputies and firefighters lose contact, dispatch cannot reach units, and the failure is invisible until something goes wrong in exactly the wrong place. Twenty years is a long time to run a system with known holes.

Why Simulcast Matters to Scanner Listeners

Simulcast is the fix Motorola pitched for tower handoff confusion. 911 System Manager Brandon Lacey compared the current handoff problems to old cell-phone roaming, where a call would drop as the phone moved between towers. Simulcast broadcasts the same signal from multiple towers on the same frequency at the same time so a radio does not have to switch.

For listeners, that cuts both ways. Simulcast fills coverage holes, which means more traffic you can hear from more places. It also creates simulcast distortion, where overlapping signals from multiple towers garble reception on older scanners tuned to the same frequency. That is precisely the problem the Uniden SDS150 was built to solve with true simulcast decoding, and it is why a rebuild like this one is a buying trigger for listeners in the coverage area.

A Rebuild Is a Reprogramming Event

Any countywide radio rebuild changes the details listeners depend on. Talkgroups move, frequencies shift, and tower sites change. If McLean County goes to a new simulcast system, every scanner in Bloomington-Normal that is programmed to the current Starcom plan becomes a paperweight until it is updated.

This is the practical reason to keep your programming current rather than treating it as a one-time setup. A pre-programmed Baofeng UV-5R Plus police scanner ships loaded with your county's frequencies and can be reflashed when a system changes, which is a cheaper habit than replacing hardware after every rebuild.

What Happens Next: Nov. 17 and Spring 2027

County staff will refine the options with Motorola before the next ETSB meeting on Nov. 17, 2026. Lane said an end-of-year decision is not possible and named spring 2027 as the goal, because tower land has not been negotiated yet. Land acquisition alone can stretch a timeline, since every new site needs a lease, a power drop, and a backhaul path.

Nothing is under contract. The pricing is preliminary, the technology selection is not final, and the board has not committed to a tower count.

Is Encryption Part of This Plan?

The WGLT report states no encryption decision. That matters, because a system replacement is exactly when encryption gets added without a separate public debate. Illinois has seen both patterns: Madison County dispatch moved to encryption on the Starcom21 system, while state bills have been filed to force media access when agencies go dark. We covered the county-level side of that in Madison County IL Dispatch Flips to Encryption on StarCom21 and the legislative side in Illinois Bills Force Media Access When Police Encrypt Scanners.

For now, treat McLean County as a coverage story, not an encryption story. If an encryption decision appears in a future ETSB agenda, listeners in Bloomington-Normal will want to comment before the contract is signed, not after.

Why This Story Matters Beyond Illinois

McLean County is a mid-sized county with named dollars, a named vendor, and a named timeline, and that combination is how most radio spending actually gets approved across the country. Big metro projects make headlines. County board meetings in places like Bloomington-Normal are where the next decade of local radio gets decided, usually with very few people in the room.

The other reason to watch: dead zones are the strongest argument for a rebuild, and they are also the strongest argument for encryption in the same budget conversation. Counties that fix coverage often bundle in security features at the same time.

FAQ

Is McLean County, Illinois going encrypted?

No encryption decision has been reported. The Sept. 22, 2026 ETSB discussion covered coverage gaps, tower options, and Motorola pricing only.

How much would the McLean County radio rebuild cost?

Preliminary Motorola pricing is $9.65 million to $19.25 million, plus annual fees above $800,000, with options adding three, four, or six towers.

When will the county decide?

Staff will refine options with Motorola before the next ETSB meeting on Nov. 17, 2026. Sheriff Matt Lane said an end-of-year decision is not possible and named spring 2027 as the goal.

What is a simulcast radio system?

It is a system that transmits the same signal from multiple towers on the same frequency at the same time, so radios do not have to hand off between sites. It fills coverage gaps but can cause simulcast distortion on older scanners.

Will my scanner stop working if the county rebuilds?

Your hardware will still work, but your programming will not. A rebuild changes talkgroups, frequencies, and tower sites, so your scanner needs to be reprogrammed to the new plan.

Which areas of McLean County have radio dead zones?

Sheriff Lane named areas near McLean, Heyworth, parts of Downs, the area north of Route 24 around Chenoa, Anchor, and the Spin Lake area, plus dropouts in Normal near the Meier store.

Bottom line: McLean County is weighing a $9.65 million to $19.25 million Motorola simulcast rebuild to close dead zones that have lasted 20 years, with a decision targeted for spring 2027. No encryption decision has been reported yet. For listeners in Bloomington-Normal, this is a reprogramming event on the horizon, so keep your scanner's programming current and watch the Nov. 17 ETSB meeting for the next concrete step.