COLUMBIANA COUNTY Voters will decide on modernized 911

The county already has 911, but it wants it to match others in the state.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Columbiana County voters will have a chance to take the county off the small list of counties in Ohio without a modernized 911 system.
Voters are being asked to adopt a 50-cent monthly surcharge on their telephone bill that will raise about $270,000 annually to help pay for improving 911.
If voters adopt the measure, they'll be forking over more than 50 cents a month, though.
The surcharge itself is 50 cents, but the phone companies will tack on to that charge anywhere from 12 cents to 32 cents per month.
The added amount is stipulated by state regulations and is to pay phone companies' equipment and administrative costs associated with 911.
The county already has a basic 911 system, meaning that 911 calls originating in the county get answered by emergency personnel who transfer the calls to the appropriate agency to handle them.
But most counties in the state have modernized 911 systems that have been enhanced with a database that instantly provides emergency personnel with key details such as where the 911 call is coming from. They also have the latest equipment to quickly transfer that information to the agency that will respond to the call.
Share of settlement
If the surcharge is approved, the county also will be eligible to receive a $400,000 share of a settlement agreement between the state and Ameritech over a service dispute.
The $400,000 will be put with the $270,000 to help equip and maintain a modernized system.
Plans for how that system will be configured are still being finalized.
Officials say it's likely that the system will consist of at least four 911 answering points that will be located in existing police and fire dispatching centers.
Answering points are expected to be in East Liverpool, East Palestine, Columbiana and the county sheriff's office. Planners say taking on 911 answering chores won't increase dispatchers' duties, since they already handle emergencies.
Commissioner Jim Hoppel said the surcharge issue, which he favors, stands about a 50-50 chance of passing.
"I hear people who want it and people who don't want it. I don't know where it stands," Hoppel said.
Supporters say the modernized system will improve emergency responses.
Critics note the county already has basic 911 and say the surcharge is yet another drain on the checkbook.