SALEM Council committee plans to discuss 911 issue again

SALEM -- The same city council committee that weeks ago rejected a proposal that the city's dispatching center become a 911 answering point will revisit the issue.
Council's committee-of-the-whole, consisting of all council members, will meet at 5 p.m. Dec. 1 to discuss the matter, said Councilwoman Mary Lou Popa, D-1st. Popa called for the session at council's Tuesday meeting.
As part of a move to modernize the county's 911 system, Salem was asked earlier this year by 911 organizers to serve as a 911 answering point. That would mean 911 calls originating from the city and Perry Township would go automatically to the city's 24-hour dispatching center.
When the city originally was requested to be an answering point, some council members and city administration officials expressed concern that the responsibility would prompt dispatchers to demand higher pay.
Others contended that such a request would be meritless because dispatchers' job duties would be no different.
Some council members noted in October that the city was being asked to be an answering point before voters had approved a 50-cent monthly telephone bill surcharge to pay for the modernized 911 system.
Things are different now because voters approved the surcharge in this month's general election, Popa said today.
That change makes it worthwhile to consider the issue again, she said.