WETHERSFIELD - Wethersfield’s transition from the faulty Motorola emergency radio system was completed last week with the launch of the three towers purchased from Harris Communications for $3.6 million.

       Wethersfield Police Chief James Cetran says that the new system is fully operational, with the exception of a few â€�"minor bugs” such as volume issues.

       â€�"It feels great,” Cetran said over the phone on Friday. â€�"It took a while to get to this point. I’m very happy to get to the point where we don’t have to worry about the system crashing, which can be serious.”

       The $3.5 million Motorola system has been problematic for the department since the town purchased it in 2001, Cetran and town officials have said.

       â€�"It was very spotty in some locations,” Cetran said. â€�"And going out of Wethersfield, it was almost impossible. That can be very dangerous because sometimes we have to pursue a suspect outside of Wethersfield.”

       Not only that, a lot of the equipment had been taken off the market by the time the town moved to replace it. Wethersfield settled its lawsuit with Motorola last year, with the company agreeing to pay $42,000 to cover the town’s remaining maintenance fees.

       â€�"I’m glad we put the Motorola issue behind us,” said Mayor Paul Montieri. â€�"Obviously we had to get a system we could rely on. Our public safety personnel could have been at risk.”

       The new system, which boasts a multi-brained design as a fail-safe feature, is expected to remain functional in less than ideal weather and includes two high availability switches and transmitters at three sites, among other features.

       About the reliability of that new system, so far so good, Cetran said.

       â€�"Everything seems to be working good. The range is better.”

       Even in the south end of town, where the department had issues with spotty coverage under the Motorola system. Having a third tower, Cetran said, seems to be the difference.

       With that up and running, Montinieri is looking ahead to future costs associated with the new system. It came with a one-year warranty for maintenance. After that expires, the town will decide whether to enter a long-term agreement.

       Montinieri wonders whether or not paying upfront for a longer warranty on equipment that is supposed to last 15 to 20 years is worth it.

       â€�"We’ll look into that, but we have a year to catch our breath from this transition,” he said.

       A 15-year warranty would have cost $2.9 million, at least at the time that the agreement with Harris was being discussed.

       â€�"That’s some big dollars,” Montinieri said. â€�"At least from the maintenance standpoint, I want to really take a look at it.”