LEETONIA We'll take 911 county calls, officials say

Leetonia officials say the job would ensure swift emergency responses.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- If Salem doesn't want to be an answering point for 911 calls, Leetonia officials say they'd be interested in the job.
Salem is balking at a 911 plan that would include Salem dispatchers' answering 911 calls originating in Salem and Perry Township.
Despite assurances to the contrary by 911 planners, Salem administration officials have said they're concerned that making the city's dispatching center a 911 answering point will overtax the staff there and necessitate more hiring.
Salem City Council's committee-of-the-whole is to meet at 4 p.m. Monday in city hall chambers to discuss the matter.
Leetonia officials don't believe 911 answering duties will make hiring more dispatchers necessary, village administrator Gary Phillips said Wednesday.
What dispatchers handle
Besides fire and police dispatching for the village, Leetonia's eight part-time dispatchers also handle fire calls from Salem and Fairfield townships, Phillips said.
The dispatchers are paid $8.57 an hour.
Phillips and Police Chief John Soldano, who also supports Leetonia's involvement, said having local 911 calls answered by Leetonia dispatchers will help ensure quick emergency response times.
That's because the requests for help won't have to first be routed through a county sheriff's department answering point.
Village council would have to approve Leetonia's becoming an answering point.
County Commissioner Gary Williams, who's helping oversee the 911 plan, said 911 planners will consider Leetonia's interest.
But they are still awaiting Salem's decision.
Other 911 answering points are set for the sheriff's office, East Liverpool, East Palestine and Columbiana.
Awaiting voters' decision
Before the new 911 plan can go into effect, voters in November will have to approve a 50-cent monthly surcharge on telephone bills to help pay for the system.
Should the surcharge fail, the improved 911 plan won't be enacted.
To help ensure the measure's passage, the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce is preparing a brochure that provides information about the improved 911 plan.
The county already has a basic 911 system. Being proposed is a more sophisticated system that most counties in the state have.
The new system features a database that instantly provides emergency responders with key information, such as the location from which a 911 call is originating.