COLUMBIANA CO. Officials await Salem's decision on 911 system

Salem officials will discuss the city's role in answering 911 calls.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Officials assembling a proposal to modernize Columbiana County's 911 system are still trying to work out a key detail: Which emergency dispatching centers will answer 911 calls?
County Commissioner Gary Williams, who's helping plan the new system, said Tuesday that four of the five locations proposed to serve as 911 answering points have been finalized.
The fifth, Salem, has yet to agree because city officials have reservations about taking part, Williams said.
Plans call for the county's larger communities or entities that already have 24-hour emergency dispatching to receive 911 answering equipment and become answering points for 911 calls.
The answering points will take the calls and immediately transfer them to the emergency department best equipped to handle the situation.
What's been proposed
Planners have proposed that answering points be in fire and police dispatching centers in Salem, Columbiana, East Palestine, East Liverpool and at the county sheriff's department near Lisbon.
Except for Salem, all the other communities have agreed, as has the sheriff's department.
Salem officials are concerned that taking on 911 answering chores would increase city dispatchers' duties, Williams said.
City officials were unavailable Tuesday.
Williams said dispatchers duties should not be increased by 911 answering responsibilities. He has reasoned that the dispatching centers already handle emergencies and having 911 wouldn't increase those.
Salem City Council's committee of the whole is expected to discuss the matter at a 4 p.m. meeting Oct. 6, Williams said.
If Salem doesn't become an answering point, 911 calls placed from the city and in Perry Township would be answered by the sheriff department answering point, Williams said.
Awaiting election result
Whether a modernized 911 system is adopted will depend on the outcome of the Nov. 4 general election.
Voters will be asked to approve a 50-cent monthly surcharge on residential and business telephone lines.
The surcharge will help pay for equipping and maintaining the 911 answering points.
Cost of equipping each answering point is expected to be about $60,000, Williams said.
Columbiana County already has a basic 911 system. But the county's 911 is one of the few systems in the state yet to be modernized with a database that automatically provides emergency personnel with the address and other information from which an emergency call is placed.
leigh@vindy.com