MILWAUKEE - If the September 11 attacks taught us anything, it's that you have to be prepared. The City of Milwaukee's solution: an expensive, high-tech communication system called OpenSky.

For more than a year, the I-Team has tracked a series of setbacks. Now, it looks like taxpayers will finally get a return on their eight figure investment.

When dealing with disasters, moments matter. Police, fire, EMS, all first responders need to communicate with each other and need the tools to do it.

"It comes down to public safety," says Milwaukee's Homeland Security Director Dan Alexander.

From the Falk plant explosion to last summer's plane crash into Lake Michigan, even big-time winter storms.

"Homeland Security has evolved to everyday emergency management preparedness activities on a whole spectrum," Alexander said.

So the city shelled out $15 million to upgrade the Milwaukee Police Department's old radio system to the digital OpenSky system, which, for another few million bucks, will be expanded to include the Milwaukee Fire Department, EMS, DPW, and the Health Department.

City leaders now say MPD will have hundreds of new handheld and portable radios in squad cars and on the street in the next 90 days.

Still, Alexander admits getting to this point hasn't been easy.

"We certainly would like to have had those things happen sooner," Alexander said.

City records show the project's deadline has already been pushed back several times: from November 2005 to January 2006, then to June 2006, and again to August 2007.

"We seem to be confronted with delay after delay," said Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan who chairs the Common Council's Public Safety Committee.

When asked if he believes taxpayers will see a return on their eight figure investment, Donovan sighed, "I would hope so. I'm disappointed it's taken as long as it has."

To be fair, the biggest setback --securing the necessary radio frequencies-- was mainly beyond the city's control.

But the I-Team did find reported problems with other systems made by the same vendor in cities like Lansing, Michigan and Albany, New York.

Still Director Alexander says he's not worried.

"Up to this point we've had no problems with this vendor, and we don't foresee any," Alexander said.

In the meantime, the City of Milwaukee will continue field-testing the OpenSky system.

"I would hope that things would run smoothly," said Donovan. "I would hope that if it doesn't that we would take appropriate action quickly to ensure that this company can back up what they said they can do."

The Milwaukee Fire Department recently had to send back nearly 500 radios because the vendor hadn't tested them correctly. A department spokesman told the I-Team new ones are on the way.

Barring any additional delays, Milwaukee's old radio system will be completely phased out by the end of the year.