Last updated: September 2026
Quick Answer: Price County board members, frustrated by two years of delay on a $15 million Bug Tussle radio and broadband tower project, pushed the company’s representative for a firm construction timeline at the April 28 meeting. With the county’s emergency radio system nearing end of life, supervisors signaled a 90- to 120-day window to decide whether to keep the partnership or build out the radio system independently before budget time.
Price County supervisors on Tuesday delivered a pointed message to Bug Tussle: give us a firm timeline, or we move on without you.
The company’s representative, Jesse Lane, heard that bluntly during the board’s April 28 meeting. Supervisors pressed him on the stalled $15 million tower project, which was sold to the county roughly two years ago as the fix for a failing emergency radio system.
“We’re in dire straits with our emergency radio system,” Supervisor Paul Palcic said. “We were led to believe that within a year there would be some action on it. That’s been two years ago.”
Why is the county ready to walk away from Bug Tussle?
The board is out of patience. Bug Tussle was brought in to build six tower sites across Price County, with the county’s public-safety radios as the top priority. That project has drifted, supervisors said, from an initial expectation of a year to 18 months to an unspecified timeline with little firm commitment.
Palcic pressed on the urgency of getting something going. Lane apologized for what he called miscommunication and a lack of timely execution, but repeatedly declined to give a hard date.
“I don’t have a concrete answer to give you just yet,” Lane said. “It would be reckless of me to stand here and give you a concrete answer or date.”
How does the $15 million bond actually work?
The money sits in a bank account the company can’t touch without board approval. County Administrator Nick Drier explained the draw-request process during the exchange.
According to the discussion, the county has approved three draws so far. The first two covered the county’s own payment from the bond — roughly 40 basis points — and went toward legal fees. A third draw of about $7,000 is for engineering costs tied to land acquisition.
Lane said co-locating other vendors on the towers is essential to servicing the debt. If negotiations go as planned, he said, the county would not need additional funding.
“There would be plenty of funding left on the side that we hope to continue to try to find ways to benefit Price County,” he said.
Where are the six tower sites?
County officials laid out the current thinking on locations. Two sites are already over the finish line on lease agreements, with two more in progress.
One site sits in the Georgetown area. Another, on Odyssey Road west of Oklahoma, is meant to cover high-population areas around Tim’s Hill, where cross country and snowshoe events draw large crowds.
Others are planned west of Park Falls and near the east side of Phillips. The Pike Lake area presents a puzzle: a neighboring county’s tower sits just four miles away, raising questions about whether a carrier would want towers that close together.
“We know we’re not going to get 100% coverage,” Drier said. “That’s really, really difficult unless they put a tower in the middle of nowhere.”
What changed about the project’s scope?
The project no longer looks like the one the board originally approved. Lane confirmed that a planned fiber run running east-west across the southern part of the county is being reevaluated.
The reason, he said, is a federal program most supervisors were unfamiliar with: BEAD, a government effort bringing broadband funding to underserved areas. Price County did not win its BEAD bid, and that shifted the financial math.
“Without that project and with BEAD coming through, that brings a lot more competition that is going to be able to build in these areas for much, much cheaper,” Lane said.
Instead, the county hopes to help the providers that did win BEAD awards in Price County get connected.
Is the county’s radio system running out of time?
Yes — and that is the clock driving the board’s impatience. County officials estimate the emergency radios are approaching end of life in the next two years. That doesn’t mean the system goes dark overnight, Drier cautioned.
“End of life does not mean end of service,” he said. “It just becomes a very difficult product to maintain long term.”
The county’s goal, Drier said, is to use 2026 to define the radio project, 2027 to buy and install equipment, and 2028 to make the switchover. The county is already talking with Motorola and exploring grant money and federal earmarks.
What happens next?
Supervisors made clear the decision has to land before the 2027 budget. Equipment must be bought either way, so the county needs an answer on option A — co-locating on Bug Tussle towers — or option B — building out its own towers, likely on taller masts.
The county’s existing tower would need to rise from about 100 feet to 120 or 130 feet to spread the signal, Drier said.
“I imagine the next 90 days are going to be pretty critical,” he said. “We’ll need to make a decision by budget time.”
A radio project RFP is in the works, with executives approving a plan to bring in a third party to oversee the effort. Lane said Bug Tussle can provide monthly snapshot updates going forward, and the board requested an update roughly every 30 days.
How did the meeting start?
The meeting opened with an invocation from Pastor True, standing in for the county’s usual pastor. Board members recognized a slate of employee milestones.
One-year anniversaries went to Annie Meyer, executive administrative assistant at the sheriff’s office; Nancy Olson, a UW Extension program assistant; and Cindy and Lauren Erickson, home-delivered meals drivers. Brandon Kozak, a corrections officer and civilian dispatcher, marked five years, as did forestry administrative assistant Christy Lava. And two employees hit 25 years: a health and human services accounting assistant named Chris, and Deputy Sheriff David.
In board communications, Palcic aired a complaint about Facebook articles he described as having no truth, without naming the author.
“There’s no truth to any of it whatsoever,” he said. “The person that’s responsible for it does have an imagination.”
See also: our guide to free camping in Wisconsin
See also: what makes Price County communities special
See also: our guide to Price County public records
FAQ
What is Bug Tussle’s role in Price County?
Bug Tussle was contracted to build six tower sites across the county to support emergency radio communications for the sheriff’s department and other public-safety users, with cell phone coverage as a secondary goal. The project is backed by a $15 million bond approved by the county.
How much money is tied up in the bond?
About $15 million is sitting in a bank account that Bug Tussle cannot access without a county-approved draw request. The county has approved three draws so far, including two that covered the county’s own bond payment and one for roughly $7,000 in engineering costs.
When does the emergency radio system need to be replaced?
County officials say the radios are approaching end of life within the next two years. Their goal is to finalize the project in 2026, install equipment in 2027, and make the switchover in 2028.
Why is the county reconsidering the project’s scope?
A planned fiber run across the southern part of the county is being reevaluated because Price County did not win funding through the federal BEAD broadband program. County officials are instead looking at helping providers that did win BEAD awards in the area.
What is the board’s deadline for a decision?
Supervisors say they need to know by budget time, roughly August through October, whether they will continue with Bug Tussle or build out the radio system independently. A 90- to 120-day window was described as critical for assessing the partnership’s viability.