E-911 PLANNING PROCEEDS

BENTON -- The 15 percent surcharge on basic phone bills in Scott and New Madrid counties to fund the Enhanced-911 emergency phone system will probably start after Jan. 1.

That's the opinion of Mike Westrich of New Hamburg, chief of the NBC Fire Department and a member of the Scott County 911 advisory committee.

"It will take effect after the county commissions order the phone company to start collecting the money," Westrich said.

Waiting until Jan. 1 makes sense to Westrich as new commissioners in both counties take office then. Scott County will have a new presiding commissioner and New Madrid County will have two new commissioners.

The commissioners taking office will be in charge for at least two years. Westrich said that's an advantage since they'll be in office during the time it takes to establish the 911 system.

The planning and set-up process will have continuity with the same officials in charge during most of that time, Westrich said. Decisions made at one point are less likely to be changed with the same people involved, he said.

State law allows governmental entities to collect the phone surcharge for up to 27 months to generate enough funds to purchase the equipment for the 911 system. In addition, the cost to map and address the two counties has to be paid from those start-up funds.

After a 911 steering committee's final report, which will be released soon, Westrich expects the two counties to sign a contract to jointly operate the 911 system, set up bylaws for the operation and appoint a board to oversee it.

That board probably will hire a manager with consent of both commissions to oversee the establishment of the system, he said.

He said the people involved want to move as quickly as possible while making sure that planning and setting up the system is done to the best of everyone's ability.

The feasibility study on the 911 system showed that the 15 percent surcharge will generate over $900,000 in revenues during the first two years in both counties.

With the technology available, a computer-assisted dispatch system could contain a wide variety of information helpful to emergency personnel.

"As a fire chief, parent and citizen, I realize that the minutes saved by 911 in responding to calls makes a difference in many situations," Westrich said. "I know, because I've been there at 2 o'clock in the morning, looking for that house that had called in an emergency."