Scott City keeping 911 center as Scott County consolidates

As Scott County officials move toward consolidating 911 dispatching services with the Sikeston, Mo., city government, the municipal government in Scott City plans to maintain its own separate 911 service.

Sikeston and Scott County officials said earlier this month that they're taking the first steps to integrate the county's call center operations into a facility being built for the Sikeston Department of Public Safety.

Scott City officials have not given any thought to scrapping their call center and using a consolidated one, city administrator Ron Eskew said. The city operating its own dispatch has not been a problem since its implementation in the 1990s, Eskew said.

"It's not a pressing issue right now," Eskew said. "The system's running just fine."

Eskew said officials may address the possibility of joining the consolidated call center at the city council's next meeting but was not sure.

A consolidated 911 dispatch system will not affect response times to any part of Scott County, county officials say.

Local officials have long mulled over consolidating the service into one dispatch center, and with the Sikeston Department of Public Safety's move into its new facility imminent, the Scott County Commission will form a committee to discuss contracting with the city to move all its 911 services into the new building. Burger said he is unsure when the move to the new Sikeston facility will be.

Such a move will not affect how quickly emergency service personnel arrive at a scene, Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger said Wednesday.

"It doesn't matter where the call goes because the first responders will remain in the same place," Burger said.

Emergency response times in Scott County have been a concern in recent years. There have been discrepancies in when calls have been received and dispatched, officials have said.

In 2008, the Miner, Mo., call center was shut down and combined with Scott County. Chaffee, Mo., and Scott City still have their own call centers.

Consolidation means less equipment will be used and bought, Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said. Walter called consolidation of 911 services a "belt-tightening effort." Because 911 services are funded by taxes on land-line phones and fewer people are using such phones, reducing the number of call centers in Scott County is a smart approach, Walter said.

"By cutting down on equipment, we'll be able to have better trained personnel answer the phone," Walter said.

The county received $186,000 in revenue from the 911 surcharge on land-line phone service in 2011, according to Burger. He said he has watched that amount fall from $275,000 because phone users are eliminating land lines in favor of cellphones, which are not charged a 911 fee in Missouri. Scott County call centers can track locations from only cellphones with global positioning capabilities.

Burger said the county does not anticipate any employees losing their jobs as a result of the consolidation. The county will still use its call center in Benton, Mo., as auxiliary offices for the county officials, Burger said.

Eliminating a call center will not affect response times, Walter said.

Officials estimate the consolidated center will require six more employees, which may cost the county $300,000. Upgrades to the 911 equipment will cost $130,000, Burger said.

psullivan@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

Sikeston, MO