The 9-1-1 Commission held their monthly meeting Thursday evening, Jan. 10, at city hall in Gilliam.

A slightly higher than usual number of residents attended the meeting to hear information about the naming and numbering of streets and roads that will be required within the county when the county-wide system is implemented.

Geocomm Project Coordinator Jane Bevans said residents would be notified of their new addresses after road names are chosen and vetted by the U.S. Postal Service, a process that will take from three to six months after submission. Bevans said she expected the final results will be available in the first quarter of 2009.

Commission member John Rieves raised a question about investing in certificates of deposit with some of the "abundant funds" in the commission's bank account, but action on the idea had to be tabled due to a lack of a quorum. Chairman John Fletcher suggested most of the $586,000 should be invested in this fashion, leaving $25,000 on hand for smaller expenses. Bevans pointed out that the bulk of expenditures by the commission will occur in the three-month window before a dispatch center opens.

The commission continues to investigate site criteria for the dispatch center. Lacking clear guidelines from state and federal sources as to the location of the center, they are polling existing facilities throughout the state for suggestions based on their experience to date.

Chairman Fletcher indicated input from county residents will also be sought. Rieves said the facility itself must meet several standards relative to size and earthquake stability, and that the federal Homeland Security guidelines will not allow the center to be housed with other emergency facilities such as police, fire or ambulance services. He commented, "We discovered there is a lot more detail to this than we thought when we got into it."

Commission member James Bird said the commission would like to hear from towns around the county about additional locations for future meetings. Contact Bird Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at (660) 784-2665, or John Rieves Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at (660) 886-3312.

The next regular meeting of the commission will be held at city hall in Malta Bend Thursday, Feb. 14, at 5:30 p.m.

Contact Kathy Fairchild at marshallhealth@socket.net