911 Board Discusses New Equipment & Organizational Issues

The Winston County E911 Advisory Board met Tuesday morning (4-26-11) to discuss options to replace or upgrade existing 911 equipment and the organization of the 911 Department. The Board serves in an advisory capacity for 911 matters to the Winston County Board of Supervisors and the Louisville Board of Alderman. The current service agreement will expire by February of 2012 and equipment must be upgraded or a full system replacement must be in place by that time.The Board reviewed several proposals and decided to consider only those options that involved an upgrade to the present system due to cost and turn around time. The members agreed to seek recommendations from a nuetral party and to request more information from the vendors concerning equipment warranties, next generation upgrades over the time of the contract and compatibility with existing county systems and data before making a final recommendation to the county & city.

Area 911 recieves approximately $190,000 per year in funds from E911 fees on local phone services but most of this money goes into utilities, maintenance and fees for services such as the Mississippi Justice Information Center (MJIC). An equipment upgrade lease/purchase would likely range from $250,000 to $300,000 to be paid over the life of the lease arrangement, (typically over 5 years).

The Board was also presented with a draft plan for a total reorganization of 911 operations. This proposal calls for a three member committee with direct authority over 911. This board would likely include a representative from the county, city of Louisville and city of Noxapater and would be a separate organization from the current advisory board. The draft plan will be reviewed and discussed in more detail in the board's next meeting.

Concerns about staffing and staff training were also raised during the meeting. Fire Chief indicated that the national standard for communities similar in size to Winston County called for 2 dispatchers on duty 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Currently due to funding issues, Winston County 911 usually only has one dispatcher available.