KINGSTON – The Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee of the Ulster County Legislature Tuesday night approved the first step toward joining other Hudson Valley counties in the formation of an emergency communications consortium.

The six-county group would first draw up a plan and seek funding, said Ulster Legislature committee Chairman Jack Hayes.

“The state has said they want to address communications in a regional approach, so what we are doing is we are getting ready for the next step,” he said. “There is probably funding from homeland security both on the state and federal level and we have to be prepared ahead of time and that’s what this resolution does.”

In the end, emergency services agencies would be able to communicate on the same radio channels in the counties of Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester.