911: YES; CAPE COUNTY GIVES OK TO ENHANCEMENT

JACKSON - Cape Girardeau County voters approved an increase in their telephone bills to provide an enhanced 911 emergency telephone service Tuesday.

The measure won by wide margins in Jackson wards and in some outcounty precincts, but ran closer in Cape Girardeau.

"I'm really excited that the people of Cape Girardeau County have decided in favor of E-911," said Juanita Henley, a member of the six-person committee that has been studying the idea of a countywide system since January.

"This is a system for our future, and it speaks well of our citizens that they see this as a need."

Lt. Dick Knaup of the Jackson Police Department, who also serves on the committee, stressed the voters have spoken and that the committee will do everything it can to get the best system available in place.

"I think we will have a system that they we'll be real proud of," said Knaup.

The city of Cape Girardeau has had 911 emergency telephone service since 1973. But Henley, who is with the Cape Girardeau Police Department, said that the system is long out of date and provides only a basic emergency service.

Voters in the county approved the 911 system by a margin of 8,290 votes to 5,967. As a result of Tuesday's vote, a tax of 15 percent will be applied to the basic residential phone rate of customers for up to two years to pay for the purchase of equipment and installation of the system.

The fee will cost each residential customer about $1.35 a month.

After the initial costs are paid, a reduced charge will be assessed to maintain the system.

The 911 proposal was the only countywide issue on Tuesday's ballot, as 14,649 of the county's 31,753 registered voters went to the polls.

Both Henley and Knaup, who monitored the returns at the county administrative building Tuesday night, stressed that the 911 system will be state of the art and one that will serve all people of Cape Girardeau County well.

"The system we have now is archaic, and there is a real need for state-of-the-art equipment in Cape Girardeau, as well as the entire county," said Henley. "I think voters realized the need for this improved equipment."

The new system will display the address and telephone number of where a 911 call is coming from, and can also provide special instructions on how to find a location.

"The location information is so important to us," said Henley. "We have had some recent instances where it could have been life threatening not to have known the location."

Knaup and Henley are hoping to become part of the advisory board that will be appointed by the county commission to make recommendations on a system and oversee its implementation.

Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep said he plans to meet soon with Jackson City Administrator Carl Talley and Cape Girardeau City Manager J. Ronald Fischer to discuss membership on the advisory group.

"We're going to offer the county the best and most state-of-the-art system we can," Henley said. "And we're going to be very careful with how we spend the money."

Knaup said the response times to emergencies all over Cape County will be dramatically improved once the system is in place.

The first priority of the advisory committee will be to prepare a detailed set of specifications so the 911 equipment can be bid.

Knaup said the board should be in a position to seek bids on a system within six months.

Brian Miller, director of the Cape County Emergency Operations Center, chaired the 911 committee. Also serving on the group were Randy Welker, assistant Jackson fire chief; Sgt. Carl Kinnison of the Cape Girardeau Police Department; and Leonard Hines, chief deputy of the sheriff's department.