Wednesday — January 28, 2004

E-911 group aims for July implementation

---

"It’s still a huge project, but it’s going to affect every emergency run we take from now on, so it’s important."

— GREG SCHWAB, Ketchum Fire Chief and Blaine County Communications Center Board member

---

By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

The governing body charged with implementing Emergency 911 services in Blaine County is getting up to speed and is predicting that at least rudimentary E-911 services will be up and running by July.

The five-member Blaine County Communications Center Board has met several times since the board’s fifth member was appointed by the Blaine County Commission in November. The group plans to meet on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at 8 a.m. at the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office. The meetings are open to the public.

"We’re just getting started," said board chairman Ron LeBlanc, who’s also Ketchum’s city administrator. "We’ve had a couple meetings. It’s a good group, and I look forward to working on this project."

On Monday, board members received approval from the Blaine County Commission to spend roughly $30,000 on consulting services to advise on technology, staffing and training issues associated with implementing E-911, LeBlanc said. Minneapolis-based GeoCom, which is cataloging Blaine County’s streets and addresses for a central E-911 database, will perform the consulting service under a separate contract.

The consultant will "help the board with these difficult decisions," said Ketchum Fire Chief Greg Schwab, one of the five board members.

GeoCom’s work will be funded by a $1-per-month tax on telephone lines that was approved by county voters in November 2002 for the express purpose of establishing an E-911 system.

By December 2004, the land-line and a separate cellular telephone tax are predicted to bring in $626,600.

LeBlanc said the board’s most immediate project involves connecting the county’s existing dispatch centers in Ketchum and Hailey via broadband technology.

"That way, we can have a very rudimentary communications center up and running by July," LeBlanc said. "Its a very ambitious goal, but we’re going to try very hard to achieve it."

GeoCom’s street and address catalog is expected to be finished by June.

LeBlanc said the board is also looking for clerical support to help advertise the group’s meeting agendas and to take meeting minutes.

Both LeBlanc and Schwab said they were looking forward to finally implementing the long-awaited E-911 system.

"It’s still a huge project, but it’s going to affect every emergency run we take from now on, so it’s important," Schwab said.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.