Henry County interested in using Washington County dispatch

The Washington County Emergency 911 board met Monday and heard that Henry County is still interested in sharing dispatch services. The board agreed that Henry County could use Washington County?s equipment for routing 911 calls without affecting Washington County?s operations at all. However, the board members said if Washington County dispatchers are also expected to dispatch emergency personnel in Henry County, the board would need to study that issue further to see what kind of burden would be put on the dispatchers.

The board voted to send Washington County Communications Supervisor Cara Sorrells and consulting engineer Leonard Koehnen to Henry County to inspect that county?s dispatching equipment and to find out if it would be compatible with Washington?s.

Communications Commission chairman Wes Rich said he has been in touch with Henry County supervisor Kent White, who had asked to meet with representatives of Washington County communications. Rich said Monday that it wouldn?t make sense to meet until Washington County knows more about Henry County?s dispatch. White said Tuesday morning that his board of supervisors has not discussed the issue of sharing equipment or dispatch since suggesting it a month ago.

Sorrells told the board that the new 911 equipment at the dispatch center should be up and running no later than Oct. 1. Board member Bob Shepherd said that Washington County could then begin routing Henry County?s 911 calls, for a fee to cover maintenance. Sorrells said she tried to find instances of other counties sharing equipment in this way but was unable to find such an arrangement in the state. Shepherd said there must be instances of equipment sharing in neighboring states that could serve as a guide to what Washington County should charge Henry County.

Board member Jerry Kauffman said Sorrells and Koehnen should find out if Washington County would accept certain liabilities if it began routing Henry County?s 911 calls.

Sorrells said she would have to look at her office?s maintenance costs and the number of calls the 911 equipment handles from Henry County to come up with a bill for the service. Sorrells said she wasn?t sure how her staff would tackle the responsibilities of dispatching Henry County law enforcement.

Sorrells said her office will need more maps and her staff would need more training if it accepted Henry County?s calls.

?We?re talking about an upgrade with additional mapping to be able to locate their 911 calls,? Sorrells said. ?I can say that my staff isn?t going to be as knowledgeable with their area as their dispatchers are.?

Sorrells said that callers often refer to streets and buildings in a town by names that would be unknown to outsiders.

During the communications commission meeting that followed the E911 board meeting, Rich spoke about the possibility of Washington County accepting dispatchers from Henry County.

?I know they have staff, and some may want to come up here to keep working, and some may not,? he said.

Sorrells said Henry County employs six dispatchers. Shepherd said that having a dispatcher from Henry County would alleviate the problem associated with colloquial names that callers give to landmarks in Henry County.

Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar asked how Henry County could save money by sending their dispatchers to Washington County.

?Why would they do that?? he asked. ?You would have to devise something to save them some money.?

Rich said Henry County would be saved from having to update its equipment.

Koehnen said there were two ways Washington County could provide dispatch to Henry County. One is to extend Washington County?s radio coverage into Henry County. He said that is the most expensive option and it carries with it other problems, too.

?You begin to encroach on other people who have your same channel, say, in northern Missouri,? Koehnen said.

He said the other option was to operate Henry County?s system from Washington County.

?We would run some phone lines from Mt. Pleasant up here,? he said.

Koehnen said that when he visits Henry County he will know which pieces of its equipment can continue to operate in 2013 and which sharing method would be most beneficial for the two counties.