ENHANCED 911 WILL BEGIN SERVICE IN COUNTY ON TUESDAY

JACKSON - After a meeting Friday morning, members of the committee appointed by the county commission to implement a 911 emergency telephone service in Cape Girardeau County, agreed that everything was in place to make the system operational Tuesday.

"We're certainly excited to be at this point finally," said Brian Miller the county's emergency operations coordinator and chairman of the committee.

Miller explained that the tests have gone well over the last few weeks and the committee agreed everything was ready.

Voters approved a surcharge on telephone bills on Nov. 5, 1991 to pay for the enhanced 911 telephone system. The city of Cape has had a 911 system for more than 15 years; residents of Jackson and the outcounty have had to contact the fire, police, sheriff's department or ambulance service directly.

Sgt. Carl Kinnison of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, a member of the 911 committee, points out that the city has only had a basic system. But the enhanced system provides public safety dispatchers the ability to see on a computer screen the address and phone number of the person calling.

That means if someone calling to 911 does not know the address they are calling from, or are unable to provide the address, a public safety response can be initiated, Kinnison said.

As part of the countywide system, all streets and roads in the county were assigned conventional street names and corresponding house numbers. The comprehensive addressing project was completed in late July.

On Monday, the first street sign will be installed, and all signs should be erected by January.

To formally commemorate the implementation of the system, members of the committee, representatives of the cities of Cape and Jackson, the county, ambulance service, and others who have helped with the project, will gather Tuesday morning.

At the event, starting at 9:30 a.m. in the county commission's chambers, officials of the two cities and county will make the first 911 calls. Cape City Manager J. Ronald Fischer and Mayor Gene Rhodes will make the call to the Cape central dispatch center, Jackson City Administrator Carl Talley and Mayor Paul Sander will call the Jackson dispatcher, and Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep and Associate Commissioners Larry Bock and E.C. Younghouse will make the call that will ring at the sheriff's office.

Huckstep praised the work of the 911 committee and said he was pleased that county citizens will have a quality emergency telephone service that will serve all people equally.

"I'm sure there may be a few glitches to work out, but it sure looks good at this point," said Huckstep. "The committee has done an excellent job and we can all be proud of their efforts."

Members of the committee besides Miller and Kinnison are: Lt. Richard Knaup from the Jackson Police Department; Randy Welker, assistant fire chief in Jackson; Mark Hasheider, of the Cape Fire Department; Chief Deputy Leonard Hines; and Alan Moss, an attorney.

The committee will serve as an ongoing advisory group to the county commission to oversee maintenance and operations of the 911 system.