In efforts to improve the effectiveness of the Athens County Sheriff's Department and the Athens County 911 Emergency Communications Center, the Athens County Commissioners approved a request from each of the departments at yesterday's commissioners meeting.

Sheriff David Redecker's department received $4,000 to buy and train a new dog. The county's current dog, Calypso, "is approaching the end of its 10-year service life," Redecker said.

The money will be appropriated from the county's "drug-related fund," and not the county's general -fund accounts.

The dog itself will cost $3,500, with the remaining $500 to be used to pay the room and board of the trainer. The actual training will be free, Redecker said.

Once the animal is fully trained, the dog will be able to track criminals, search buildings for drugs and will have the ability to attack assailants, he said.

Emergency Communications received the commissioners' approval to relocate one of the system's emergency radio tower sites.

The tower, located in Athens, will be moved about 200 feet from its current position on Roosevelt Road to Peach Ridge Road, Doug Bentley, 911 chief of operations, said. Both sites are located off State Route 50 in Athens.

The relocation will improve the system's reception, he said.

Reception problems have been the subject of numerous complaints from employees of the county's emergency departments in the past.

Employees from the Sheriff department and departments in the outlying areas of the county, such as Nelsonville and Glouster, have had trouble with radio signal strength because of the county's hilly landscape.

The towers, located throughout the county, provide a network of radio signals for county law enforcement, fire and medical-emergency departments.

Dispatchers from 911 also use the system to contact emergency personnel.

The tower Bentley has decided to relocate will affect the Sheriff's Department and the law enforcement department's radio communication, he said.

In addition, Bentley said he wants to build a backup transmitter on the Roosevelt Road site once the existing tower is moved.

"Then if the main tower goes out for any reason, we'll have a backup transmitter," he said.

Athens County Commissioner Bill Theisen said having a backup transmitter would be a good idea.

"I don't think anything like that has been done before," he said.

The money to purchase the transmitter will be taken from 911's equipment-purchases account and was included in the center's 1999 budget, Bentley said.