E-911 PROJECT IS ON SCHEDULE

JACKSON - An enhanced 911 emergency telephone service for Cape Girardeau County is on schedule for its implementation target date of Nov. 1, members of a committee named to oversee the process reported this week.

The county commission agreed with the committee's request to seek bids for the technical components needed to put the system in place.

Bid specifications were prepared by Miller Management Services of Glen Carbon, Ill., and bids will be opened on Feb. 16.

Carl Kinnison of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, a member of the 911 committee, said the group hopes to have a recommendation for the commission by Feb. 26.

Bidders will have an opportunity to respond to one set of specifications and an alternate.

Kinnison explained, "Installation is scheduled to begin the first part of July and to be completed by August. Training and testing will also be done during the month of August.

"The whole idea is to be up and running and complete by Nov. 1, 1993. At this point, things are moving well."

Also as part of the implementation process, a consulting firm is providing addresses for all homes and businesses in the county that do not have them. Addressing should be finished by the end of February.

Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep praised the 911 committee for its work and said the group appears to have done its homework well.

"They appear to have things under control and are doing a good job looking out for the citizens of this county," said Huckstep.

County voters approved a tax on telephone bills in November of 1991 to pay for the system. The city of Cape Girardeau has had a 911 emergency number for several years, however, the new system will be more modern, giving the dispatcher automatically the address where the call is coming from.

The city of Jackson and the outcounty area currently does not have a 911 service.