ADDRESS CHANGES FOR NEW 911 PLAN ARE SENT TO SOME

JACKSON - Residents of Cape Girardeau Route 1 are the first to be advised of address changes caused by Cape Girardeau County's conversion to an enhanced-911 emergency telephone system.

Eventually, every residence in the county will have a number and street address that will make it easier for emergency vehicles to find locations around the county.

Members of the 911 committee met with the county commission Thursday to explain progress made toward a scheduled Nov. 1 implementation of the system.

Fulvio Hayes, project manager for ETG Graphics, the firm hired to do the addressing, told the commission that 673 change of address cards have been mailed out to Route 1 residents.

Hayes said a few people have called with questions about the notices, but generally the test area has gone well.

Hayes noted that within two weeks, change of address notices will be sent to everyone in the county.

The notices are accompanied by information from the post office, along with change of address cards that can be used by residents. After one year, the post office will no longer deliver mail unless it displays the new address.

Once cards are mailed to the rest of the county, Hayes said he will come back and help answer questions from residents.

Addresses will be changed for everyone in the county, except for residents of the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson. Smaller towns like Delta and Whitewater will now have street names and addresses.

In the out county, addresses giving a route and box number will be eliminated. Everyone will be given a numerical address for the road they live on, such as Highway 177, State Route W or County Road 235.

But there are a number of roads in the county that do not have names and numbers, and a system is in place to name those roads. A name has been assigned to every road in Cape Girardeau County that has two or more residences on it.

Ron Andrews, the county's data processing director who serves on the 911 committee, pointed out that there are about 250 newly named roads in the county. There are also streets in subdivisions and some smaller cities that will need to be named.

Street names are assigned by subject, based on the zones established by the county road system. The subject areas names are chosen from include: flowers, trees, Indian terms, Missouri wildlife, and rocks/gem stones.

As part of the effort, signs much like street signs in Cape Girardeau and Jackson will be placed around the county.

On Thursday the county commission agreed to use 911 funds to pay for the signs and to hire a contractor to install the signs around the county.

Hayes told the commission that it would need to get someone hired as soon as possible to keep street addresses current. Each time a new home or business is constructed, it will need to be assigned an address. The new address will need to be coordinated with the post office, Southwestern Bill Telephone and utility companies.

"Coordination is really the key to this, and maintenance is a big part of it," said Hayes. "It all needs to be maintained and managed by an individual, spending a definite amount of time each day.

"It does take time; it does take effort from an individual committed to doing this."

Andrews said the 911 committee recognizes the importance of good maintenance to keeping the system effective.

The goals of the addressing plan include logic, permanency, ease of maintenance, and the avoidance of special addressing exceptions.

The addressing system is based on 1,000 addresses per mile of road traveled. An address of 3500, for example, would be found about three and a half miles along a road from where it starts. In most areas of the county, even numbered addresses will be on the right side of the road; odd numbered on the left.

Brian Miller, chairman of the committee, received authorization from the commission to proceed with the purchase of 17 printers, which will give "rip and run" capabilities to all 17 fire houses located throughout the county and cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

"Having this will cut down on the confusion with radio traffic and repeated requests for information," said Miller. "Hopefully this will reduce response times and get people where they are supposed to be."

Miller said firemen will be able to pick up copies of directions, transmitted by the 911 dispatcher.

Anyone with questions about the addressing system can contact the committee's office at 243-4911.