Deadline to OK 911 plan now in Nov.

A county official plans to spend more time explaining the proposed enhanced 911 system.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Columbiana County has pushed back its deadline to approve its plan for enhanced 911 emergency telephone service.
The county's 911 planning committee had approved the plan in September and set last Friday as the deadline for approval by subdivisions.
The plan will go into effect if subdivisions that represent 60 percent of the county's population approve it.
Gary Williams, the county commissioner who is heading the effort, believed the deadline would give most subdivisions time for two meetings to consider the plan and vote. But that didn't happen.
The committee planned to meet Tuesday to move forward after the plan was approved. Instead, a new deadline was set for Nov. 21.
Williams said the problem is in informing some subdivisions about the plan, not with the plan itself.
"I believe this is a plan that will work in Columbiana County," he said.
Williams has been talking to officials and plans to spend the next month talking mostly to township officials who have not voted. He noted that townships voted down the county's initial plan for 911 service in the 1980s.
Old vs. new plan
That plan called for nine centers to receive emergency calls. The complaint at the time was that there were too many answering centers.
The new plan calls for five centers to receive emergency calls that automatically show the caller's location. The centers would be at the East Liverpool, East Palestine, Columbiana and Salem police departments and the county sheriff's office.
East Liverpool, East Palestine, Columbiana and Wellsville have approved the plan. Those cities represent about 35 percent of the county's population. Williams said trustees represent most of the remaining population.
But under the appointing process, the trustees only had one representative on the planning committee, Williams said.
The plan spells out which of the five centers would receive police, fire and ambulance calls from a given subdivision.
In Liverpool Township, for example, officials aren't sure if they want to stay with the sheriff's office under the plan or have their calls answered by nearby East Liverpool.
Williams explained that the planned call routings are not etched in stone and can be changed if local officials want it.
One misconception in some subdivisions, the commissioner said, is that the centers would provide full dispatching for all activities. For example, police departments with dispatchers will still have them if the plan is approved. The answering centers will only relay emergency calls to the subdivision and let the subdivision handle the call.
A few worries
Williams said one of the biggest concerns he has heard is whether the sheriff's office will be able to handle the number of calls it receives. The office should because it gets about 47 percent of all calls now, Williams said.
Another concern may have to be addressed through a public awareness campaign. Williams said some officials are concerned that people will call 911 to get information or discuss nonemergency problems.
Williams said those types of calls are normally high when a 911 system begins, but drop considerably after a short time.
Another concern was addressed by the planning committee in the plan. Williams said that if one answering center goes out of commission, the emergency calls from that area will automatically be transferred to another center. The overall system will have enough capability to be able to handle such situations, Williams said.
wilkinson@vindy.com