911 PROJECT LESS EXPENSIVE; FUNDS WILL BE REIMBURSED TO DEXTER

DEXTER -- Here's a switch: An expansion of a government agency's program can be done for considerably less than expected and some of the tax dollars already paid out will be returned.

Just how much of the $6,300 paid by the Dexter police and fire departments to Stoddard County 911 Services will be returned isn't yet known, but 911 Administrator Bill Pippins Jr. indicated that some money will be returned to the city's treasury.

The city funds were allocated to the 911 system to finance a 911 computer hookup for the city's police and fire dispatching crews. The hookup will allow city dispatchers quicker access to information that 911 dispatchers receive at the Stoddard County Ambulance District offices.

Pippins Thursday night said he recently learned that the extension of the 911 lines to the Dexter police station will not require the more-expensive equipment and telephone lines as he had been told initially. Therefore, a portion of the city's money would be returned.

In other action during the 911 Board of Directors regular monthly meeting, Assistant Administrator Carol Moreland noted that this year's 911 display at the Stoddard County Interagency Council's Resource Fair -- set for Saturday, Oct. 16, at Sacred Heart Parish Hall -- will focus on the emergency number system. Previous fair displays have stressed the proper use of 911.

Moreland said it appears the correct use of 911 isn't a major concern now, but a lack of emergency numbers throughout the county remains a concern.

She said Seymour Signs has donated a number marker that will be given away at the Resource Fair.

Pippins said the issue of missing emergency service numbers -- especially at residences -- is of such a concern that renewed attention has been given to seeking a new ordinance from the Stoddard County Commission regarding enforcement of the numbering program.

Currently, county law calls for numbers of a certain size to be installed, but it contains no provision for enforcement.

"Now that we've got five years into the 911 system and the law enforcement community is behind us" it might be time to seek a new ordinance, Pippins said.