COLUMBIANA COUNTY Official outlines proposal for 911

Planners think current dispatchers can be used.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Before Columbiana County residents go to the polls in November to vote on a funding proposal for improved 911, they'll know more about how the system will be configured, a county commissioner said.
An advisory committee expects to decide by Sept. 23 which communities will get special equipment for answering 911 calls and transferring crucial information to the proper emergency agency, Commissioner Gary Williams said Wednesday.
Preliminary indications are that the answering points will be established in the 24-hour police and fire dispatching centers already in Salem, Columbiana, East Palestine and East Liverpool, Williams said.
An answering point also will be centrally located in the county, perhaps at the Lisbon Police Department, Williams said.
Funding source
To equip the answering points, planners will rely on a proposed 50-cent monthly telephone bill surcharge and a $400,000 fund provided by Ameritech. The phone company paid the $400,000 through an agreement with the state over a service dispute.
County residents will vote on the surcharge, which will raise about $270,000 annually, in the Nov. 4 general election. If it fails, the county will be unable to modernize its 911 system.
The county already has a primitive system. But it lacks the database and related equipment that will instantly provide 911 personnel with the location of a caller.
Columbiana County is one of the few counties in the state without a modernized system.
Criteria for sites
Which communities will be 911 answering points depends primarily on two factors -- size and the presence of full-time police and fire dispatching, Williams said.
Emergency 911 calls will automatically be routed to an answering point depending on where the call originates.
Answering-point personnel will determine where the emergency is and who must respond. The call will then be transferred to the proper agency.
Those planning 911 think answering points can be staffed with police and fire dispatchers that communities already employ. There should be no need to add people just to answer 911 calls, Williams said.
The 911 advisory committee is made up of elected officials, police and fire personnel, and emergency and disaster officials.