Price County Law Enforcement Committee Sends Pet Waste Rule

Last updated: September 2026

A Phillips man asked the Price County Law Enforcement Committee on Tuesday morning to keep the county’s next radio system open to public ears. His argument was one line long, and it landed harder than anything else said in the hour.

“Security should not mean secrecy,” Glenn Schilling of Dardis Lake Lane told the committee, reading from notes he fumbled with on the table in front of him.

Quick Answer: The Law Enforcement Committee voted Tuesday to forward an amended county parks ordinance to the full County Board, adding pet waste to an existing refuse rule for county campgrounds. It also heard the first in-person presentation from TUSA Consulting Services, the Missouri firm hired to run a radio system needs assessment, and agreed to take up Flock camera questions on November 12. The five-member committee met at 9 a.m. at the Price County Courthouse.

What did the committee do with the parks ordinance?

The amendment targets Chapter 398, the county’s parks and forests code. Specifically, section 398-19, “cleaning of refuse,” a rule that has been on the books since 1986.

The new language deals with pet waste. Dog feces left at campsites was the reason the amendment came forward at all. Staff described a camper at Solberg Lake who arrived to find a site fouled by the previous occupants and did not appreciate cleaning up after someone else’s animal.

That part drew no objection. What drew questions was a word already in the older text: “recreation area.”

Where is a camper supposed to clean a fish?

A camper named Russ, who spoke during the public hearing, pressed the committee on the definition. If the ordinance bars cleaning fish in a recreation area, and a county campground counts as one, he asked, where is a camper at Solberg Lake supposed to gut a catch? He noted that Twin Lakes, where he also camps, sits under federal management rather than county rules.

Russ also objected to the framing. “This is supposed to be a tourist area and you’re restricting people from cleaning fish,” he said.

Staff walked the committee through the history. The rule was written because campers were throwing fish entrails into dumpsters and onto campsites, which drew flies and complaints. County parks now provide fish cleaning stations and proper disposal sites for exactly that purpose. Cleaning a fish out on the water or in the county forest was never the problem being solved.

Committee member Robert Kopisch read the text aloud and noted that the word “campsite” does not appear in the restricted list at all. It names picnic grounds, lakes, streams, and playgrounds.

The committee split the question

Faced with two different problems, the committee chose to handle them separately.

It voted to forward the new pet waste language, referred to on the floor as the “red language,” to the full County Board so it can be adopted. The larger question of whether campers should be barred from cleaning fish at their own sites will get its own amendment, its own process, and its own meeting. Staff said parks management and law enforcement would be invited back to discuss it.

The minutes of the committee’s September 3 meeting were approved without discussion.

Who is running the county’s radio study?

Rebecca Marwood introduced herself as the project manager, with Jeff McNally as senior technical consultant and Dean Hart as managing director of TUSA Consulting Services. The firm was selected earlier this year and has already been named in county coverage of the radio project.

Phase 1 is a needs assessment, not a purchase. The county board authorized up to $55,000 for the study, and the firm’s actual bid came in at roughly $49,640. Funding came from the remaining Bug Tussle bondholder fee account.

What the assessment will actually look at

Marwood described three lines of work. The team inspects existing equipment, including tower sites and the 911 center. It interviews end users, because dispatchers and deputies know where coverage fails in ways a map cannot show. It also reviews licensing and documentation to see what can be reused rather than replaced.

She put the timeline at 90 to 120 days, with the county’s own responsiveness as the variable. The firm intends to return with a report before the end of the year.

Committee members pushed on scope. Kopisch asked how the study accounts for the counties surrounding Price County, since deputies have to talk across borders. Marwood said the work separates operability inside the county from interoperability with outside agencies, and that connecting neighboring systems comes down to technology and willingness rather than possibility.

She also warned that a portable radio carried inside a building needs more tower coverage than a mobile radio in a vehicle. For a county of this size with three tower sites, she said, a fourth is statistically likely to be part of the recommendation.

What it will cost to keep the current system

The committee raised the maintenance contract directly. A service agreement that once ran roughly $40,000 a year came back at roughly $86,000 when it expired, per the figures discussed on the committee floor. Marwood said TUSA asks vendors to lock pricing for 15 years on a total cost of ownership basis, and that historic bids from similar counties let the firm budget within a close margin before any real bid goes out.

She also described the reliability target in plain terms: a system that is up 99.999 percent of the year, which works out to under five minutes of downtime annually.

What did the public ask the county to protect?

Schilling’s comments came during public comment rather than the radio presentation, but they were aimed at it.

He thanked the committee for hiring an independent consultant instead of going straight to equipment vendors, and congratulated TUSA on the award. Then he asked for one commitment: that the finished system not be encrypted by default.

“Historically the ability for the media and the public to monitor public radio communications has ensured that local government operations remain transparent,” he said. He added that neighboring counties have managed conditional encryption, protecting sensitive operations without closing the channel entirely.

He tied the point to the county’s other running argument. “Look at how the Flock camera debate has caught the public’s and media’s attention lately,” he said.

No committee member responded to the encryption request, and no vote was taken on it. The topic will return when the needs assessment lands.

When does the Flock camera debate reach the committee?

Kopisch asked for the Flock camera issue to be placed on the agenda after constituents contacted him. Automated license plate cameras have been the county’s most contested technology question this year, drawing organized opposition and a public records fight.

It did not appear Tuesday. Staff said the meeting was already long with the radio presentation and moved the item to the next session.

Kopisch said he has been reading about other communities that adopted the cameras and then reversed course, naming Oshkosh. “There’s a lot of information that I don’t understand, imagine the same thing a lot of people about these Flock cameras,” he said.

The committee’s next meeting is November 12, 2026. The Flock discussion is expected then.

Frequently asked questions

What did the Price County Law Enforcement Committee vote on September 29, 2026?

It voted to forward amended language in Chapter 398, section 398-19 of the county parks ordinance, adding pet waste to the refuse rule, to the full County Board for adoption.

Who is the consultant studying Price County’s radio system?

TUSA Consulting Services, a Missouri public safety communications engineering firm. Rebecca Marwood is the project manager, Jeff McNally the senior technical consultant, and Dean Hart the managing director.

How much is the Price County radio study costing?

The County Board authorized up to $55,000. TUSA’s phase 1 bid came in at roughly $49,640, funded from the remaining Bug Tussle bondholder fee account.

Will Price County’s new radio system be encrypted?

Not decided. A resident asked the committee to avoid blanket encryption so the public and press can keep monitoring public safety traffic. The committee took no action, and the question returns with the needs assessment report.

When is the next Price County Law Enforcement Committee meeting?

November 12, 2026, when the Flock camera discussion is expected to be on the agenda.

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