Officials plan meeting to discuss 911 service

Salem will be one of five areas to handle calls from specific locations.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- The proposed enhanced emergency 911 service in Columbiana County won't go away even if enough subdivisions reject it.
Salem, the only city in the county that hasn't approved the plan, has scheduled a meeting Wednesday to discuss it.
The original deadline for approval by all political subdivisions has been pushed back because of questions by some subdivisions.
Nancy Cope, the chairwoman of Salem's council as a whole who called the session, said some council members favor having only one answering point in the county for emergency calls.
The plan being voted on calls for Salem, East Liverpool, East Palestine, Columbiana and the county sheriff's office to handle calls for specific areas.
Gary Williams, the county commissioner spearhading the project, said Wednesday that Salem's favorable vote should put the plan into action.
Margin of approval needed
Subdivisions that represent 60 percent of the county's population must approve it.
County voters in 2003 approved a monthly charge on their phone bills to pay for the service. That charge will continue to be collected even if the plan is not adopted, Williams said.
The fees are paying only for the equipment. The communities that will host the answering centers will continue to pay the salaries of their dispatchers.
"We're not spending any money on personnel," Williams said. "We can't afford that cost."
The move will avoid problems Mahoning and Trumbull counties have had paying their 911 personnel, Williams added.
Columbiana County's government has had funding problems, but Williams said the commissioners can make sure the sheriff's office has enough funding for dispatchers regarding the public's safety.
With enhanced 911, the location of a regular or cellular phone will appear on a computer screen. The information will then be sent to the safety forces that handle calls for that area.
Williams will continue to meet with local officials to press for approval.
If the plan doesn't pass, Williams said he'll gather the planners for the system to discuss alternatives.