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Mercer emergency dispatch to upgrade computer system

September 30, 2010|By BOBBIE CURD | bcurd@amnews.com

HARRODSBURG — Mercer County Fiscal Court unanimously voted Tuesday to purchase a new computer-assisted dispatch system for $47,884.

Earl J. Motzer, chief executive officer of James B. Haggin Memorial Hospital, spoke on behalf of the Emergency 911 committee and recommended the new system as well as three other new equipment purchases he said the department needs.

The committee is made up of representatives from the city, county, emergency medical service, police and sheriff’s departments.

Judge-Executive Milward Dedman explained $32,561 from the 911 wireless fund will be used, and the remaining $15,323 will come from the county. The wireless fund includes proceeds from the tax on cell phones and goes toward paying for emergency operations.

Motzer told commissioners the expenditure for the dispatch system includes equipment, training, the server and everything else needed to replace the outdated system.

Also unanimously voted in as a new purchase was a master street address guide. Communications supervisor Ruth Bryant was on hand to add that the current system has become antiquated and possibly could be dangerous if not updated. Emergency calls could be routed to incorrect addresses if the system is not updated, she said.

The system will need to be updated semi-annually, at a cost of $600 per update, totaling $1,200. Dedman said $816 of the cost will be paid out of the wireless fund, and the county will pay the remaining $384.

A possible recommendation to purchase new optometry equipment for the property valuation administrator’s office was put on hold. Motzer said the equipment would allow the PVA to review all four sides of houses and properties to determine if the correct amount of property tax has been assessed. Motzer said the new equipment also will benefit the fire and police departments as well, and he will ask if those entities can contribute to the cost.

A digital recorder needs to be replaced in the emergency center as well, Motzer added, but the expenditure has been put on hold until the committee finds out about a grant application submitted to the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security that could pay for the new equipment.

In other business, the court:

held second reading and final adoption of an emergency resolution relating to a flood damage prevention ordinance. Shawn Moore, executive director of the Greater Harrodsburg/Mercer County Planning & Zoning Commission, appeared before the court last month requesting the resolution be enacted due to the area along the Kentucky River that flooded in May. Several homes in the area must be elevated to withstand future flooding, and the court agreed to temporarily waive certain building requirements for affected homes;

approved up to $15,000 to buy a 2002 International dump truck at the state surplus property auction; and

approved the appointment of Sonya Shannon to fill Jamie Spivey’s term on the Anderson-Dean Community Park board.

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