Rural intersections, 3 towns to be surveyed as part of enhanced 911 conversion

New street signs at intersections will be purchased because of stipulations within Saline County resulting from the switch to countywide E911.

Federal mandates also require the signs meet specific guidelines for material and size.

Sign Up, owned by Larry Haren, has agreed to perform a survey of the county intersections for a price of $12 each.

According to Commission Director Pam Teague, Saline County has about 1,000 intersections, give or take 100.

"At this point in time it's a survey to see what is needed where," said John Fletcher, commission chairman.

Sign Up was the only company to send in an RFP for this project; commissioners attributed the lack of proposals to the difficulty of the task.

"It's a pretty specialized business," Fletcher said.

Despite a lack of competition, Fletcher was pleased with what Sign Up has had to offer.

"He impressed me very much," Fletcher said. "He just knew everything there was to know about it."

The commission approved a motion to finance the survey for towns that do not have streets marked, which are the only areas where they feel a survey will be needed.

"If they don't have them (street signs), let's just pay for it and get it done," said commission member John Rieves.

Thus far, only Grand Pass, Miami and Gilliam have sent letters to the commission asking to be included in the street sign project.

Fletcher also informed the commission of talks with Stace Anderson of Septagon about the possibility of having an RFP ready by the end of July.

"We should be able to get started next week," Fletcher said.

Commissioners also addressed the flyers that have appeared on numerous doors throughout Marshall.

Bright orange slips, labeled "Operation Safe House," give details on how to "make house addresses in this neighborhood easily visible."

"We will be painting reflective address numbers on the curbs starting tomorrow (June 26) between 12 p.m. and 8 a.m. This important because 70-80 percent of all 911 emergency calls are made after dark," the flyer read.

The message continued, "The numbers are attractive-reflective, bright white on a dark green board -- and will look uniform throughout the neighborhood.

"The only cost for this service is a fee of $12 to offset the labor involved. If you would like both sides of your driveway painted or numbers put in two separate locations, the cost will be $20. Please note these numbers are 2-4 inches in height depending on the size of the surface selected to be painted."

Commissioners were concerned that the public may be under the impression that this was a notice from 911 officials.

"911 had nothing to do with this," Teague said.

The next meeting of the Saline County 911 Commission will be Thursday, July 10, at 9:30.