COLUMBIANA CO. Cranmer presses to set up 911 plan

Officials plan to bring the issue before voters in the spring.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Commissioner Dave Cranmer says he wants to do what he can before leaving office to help create a 911 emergency telephone service.
Cranmer, defeated earlier this month for a second term as county commissioner, said Monday he intends to meet with the county's 911 technical advisory committee next month, his last in office.
Establishing 911 has been one of Cranmer's goals.
He said he intends to urge the committee to finalize a 911 plan before voters are asked to help fund the system.
The advisory committee consists of elected and public-safety officials and representatives of ambulance services.
How many sites?
Cranmer, one of the group's leaders, said the panel must decide whether to establish a 911 center that would answer all 911 calls originating in the county.
Another option would be to establish several 911 answering points, probably using the fire and police dispatching offices in the county's larger towns.
Cranmer said he thinks a central 911 call center should be created because it would be more efficient and cost-effective.
Government entities in the counties that already have 24-hour fire and police dispatching could keep those services to handle nonemergency calls, said Cranmer, a former Salem Fire Department captain.
Funding
County commissioners said in September they want to ask voters on the May primary ballot to fund 911 by approving a monthly surcharge on their telephone bills.
Surcharges of 50 cents to $1 have been discussed. It remains unclear what figure would be on the ballot. A 50-cent monthly surcharge would raise about $300,000 annually.
Before voters can be asked to approve a surcharge, they need to have a clear idea of how a proposed 911 system would be set up, and it's the advisory committee's duty to devise that plan, Cranmer said.
It's also important, he added, that the plan earn support from area municipalities, fire and police chiefs and heads of ambulance services.
He noted that some counties' 911 planning has erupted into turf wars, particularly over answering-point locations.
It's crucial that bickering doesn't flare up in Columbiana County, or it will prompt voters to scrap a surcharge issue, Cranmer said.