COLUMBIANA CO. Preparations are in store for 911

The guts of the new system will be a large collection of addresses and other details.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Voters last week took care of the first obstacle to getting an improved 911 system implemented in Columbiana County by passing a funding measure.
Now the hard work begins, said county Commissioner Gary Williams, a primary organizer of the 911 effort.
The cornerstone of an enhanced 911 is a massive database that contains virtually every address in the county that has a telephone, plus other information.
Before the 911 system funded in the election can be implemented, the database must be assembled, Williams pointed out.
"That's the biggest job" in getting the new system up and running, a task that probably won't be completed until 2005, Williams said.
System procedure
Whenever anyone places a 911 call, the database is electronically accessed, and the address from which the call is being placed is provided instantly to the emergency agency receiving it.
Not only does the database contain addresses, it also will detail which law enforcement, fire department and ambulance agencies are assigned to respond to an emergency at that address.
The job of compiling the database for the county's 911 system likely will fall to an administrator who will be hired in coming months.
Despite the extensive effort that will be involved in the job, virtually no public input will be involved, Williams said.
Most of the information will be gleaned by the administrator from telephone officials and public service agencies.
Organizers of the improved 911 system probably will start looking for an administrator next spring and hope to have him or her hired shortly thereafter, Williams said.
Keeping cost down
Planners want to avoid making the administrator a full-time county position because it would mean paying costly benefits as well as the person's salary, Williams said.
It should be less expensive to contract for the service, he added.
"We think it would be $50,000 or less a year," Williams said of the salary for such an individual.
Money for the service would come from the 50-cent monthly telephone surcharge approved by voters.
The measure will raise about $270,000 annually.
Williams noted that collection of the surcharge won't begin until April. The county won't start receiving revenue from it until about August.
If a 911 administrator is to be hired before then, the county may have to advance money from the general fund, which would be repaid once surcharge revenue is received.