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Web posted
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
County seeks grant to update 911 plan
By JOSHUA AMES
Courier Staff Writer
The Cowley County Commission this morning approved a grant application request to the state of Kansas to update the 911 emergency call systems in Winfield and Arkansas City.
The grant request is for $465,315. Cowley County taxpayers would be responsible for $15,000 of that amount if the grant is approved.
Representatives from the Winfield and Arkansas City police departments were on hand to discuss the benefits of a new system, since both departments are still using the same hardline phone system from the '80s.
Winfield Police Chief Jerry DeVore reminded commissioners of a lightning strike in 2007 that disabled the city's 911 system for three days.
DeVore said the repairs took a long time because city engineers had trouble locating the necessary parts to repair the system. Many of those parts were out of stock or production.
The grant request would fund a new generator for the Arkansas City Police Department and a new digital phone-based software interface for both cities.
If the departments go digital, there will be less chance for delay on repairs, since the system will be centralized and accessible.
The new software, Vesta Palis, will enable the two cities' police departments' main computer information databases to interface better with emergency cell phone calls, while providing a geographical location of the wireless call.
Under the current hardline-based system MARS unit, cell phone calls can come into the department's databases but cannot provide the location of the call or any other information about the caller to the dispatcher besides what they are told during the call.
The MARS unit is compatible only with phone land lines and provides location information and addresses to police dispatchers in the case of emergencies from their databases.
The new Vesta Palis system would allow that information to go through to dispatchers from wireless devices as well as from land lines.
With the surge of cell phones and other wireless communication items, the old hardline system is long overdue for a change, according the county commissioner Carmelita Clarkson.
"I think all equipment eventually runs out of the ability to be repaired," said Clarkson. "But this system keeps everyone in this county safe, and we need to replace that outdated equipment."
County administrator Leroy Alsup also voiced his support for the application of the Vesta Palis system.
In other business, the commission voted to raise the county employee automobile mileage reimbursement rate from 45 cents to 50 cents.
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