911 Commission accepts bid for signs

The Saline County 911 Commission's main points of discussion were matters of signage and the tying up of loose ends regarding the construction of the dispatch center at its meeting Thursday, Jan. 8.

The Commission voted to accept the bid on signage for intersection markers and rural address markers by Iowa-based Sign-Up Ltd., the amount of which was $122,788.41.

Sign-Up Ltd. reported they could install 100 road signs per day, meaning they will be done 10 days from when they begin, said Commission Member Jesse Coslet. This does not account for individual residential address markers, which will be installed after the road signs are put up.

Coslet said removal of the signs takes twice as long as installation.

The County Commission eventually will remove old road signs, but will leave them for up to a year to allow county residents to become used to the new addresses, stated Commission Member Corbin Allred.

"Most of (the locations for the new) signs are nowhere near the county's (existing signs)," said Coslet, meaning there will be less of a chance for confusion while both sets of signs are up.

Director Pam Teague said the Commission would issue one press release at the time of the installation of the new signs and another when installation has been completed.

All old addresses will be good for a year, Allred said.

"I got a call from the postal service yesterday. Somebody needed their address because KCP&L wouldn't come out to the new house they're building, and I said, 'It's going to have to wait a little bit,'" recalled Fire Chief John Rieves.

Allred reported having given representatives of RL Phillips Construction Inc. an area phone book to supply the company with phone numbers of local contractors.

Though Commission members have been reported as saying the cost of the building is decreasing and approaching $1,000,000, Treasurer Jack Lenz Jr. stressed, "'Getting close' doesn't mean close."

Rieves stated cuts have been made totaling $200,000, "and we're still getting a better building than we started with."

Due to an unforeseen price increase, one contract was turned into two.

"In the bonding, for him to have the architects and civil engineers bonded under one bond, it costs an extra percent," said Rieves. One percent of $1,000,000 is $10,000.

Rieves told Jane Bevans of GeoComm that the Commission wished to reconsider the maintenance package, saying that besides software maintenance and updates, "we feel we'll be in a position to provide" other offered maintenance.

The Commission approved a different maintenance agreement.

The question of how much communication to, from or within the dispatch center should be recorded was discussed.

"I've been in this business long enough to know that it takes one conversation that's not recorded, and you've got a court case," said Teague.

The Commission voted to record all telephone communications, including administrative calls.

Proper service for cellular telephone users will take an estimated six months from the date the dispatch center goes online, said Bevans. Until that time, the address displayed to dispatchers will be that of the cell phone tower used by that phone.

"So it's going to be just like it is now until phase two," said Jeffries.

Bevans told the Commission the application for phase two could be put in as early as one month before the dispatch center building becomes operational.

The question of new addresses was answered, at least in part, by Bevans, who said that although towns that share the same zip code, such as Grand Pass, Malta Bend and Mount Leonard, are likely to have the same city listed on the third line of their mailing address, that will in no way affect dispatchers or emergency responders, for whom the city from which a call is made is a moot issue. The only entities for which this is likely to be a problem are UPS and FedEx, she said, though she opined they would soon get used to the new addresses.

The body responsible for determining the city appearing on the third line of a resident's mailing address is the U.S. Postal Service, Bevans said.

American Sign Language interpreters are becoming mandatory for emergency response dispatch services, replacing the need for communication via teletype. Now, these interpreters will sign back and forth over an Internet video feed.

Teague expressed amazement at the changes in technology.

"If we buy the right equipment now, we won't have to in two or three years when it becomes mandatory" for emergency dispatch services to be able to receive text messages and photos from cell phones, she said.

Chairman John Fletcher asked Bevans how services like Google Maps and Mapquest get updated information regarding street names, to which Bevans responded that either a private company will purchase that information and sell it to those companies, or a digital copy of the information will be sent to the Department of Transportation, which will provide those companies with that information.

The Commission voted to pay their bills, amounting to $912 to Sign-Up Ltd., $10,209 to GeoComm, $39.38 to the Sweet Springs Herald, $75.36 to the Slater Main Street News and $1,255.28 to Director Pam Teague in salary.

The board voted to re-invest a matured certificate of deposit valued at $300,000. The new bond will mature July 31, 2009.

The groundbreaking ceremony was discussed, with the decision made to contact and invite all officeholders in the county. The date for groundbreaking still has not been set.

The Commission's next meeting was set for Thursday, Jan. 29, at 9:30 a.m.

Contact Geoff Rands at marshallreporter@socket.net