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January 17, 2009

Essex County 911 has big first year

By LOHR McKINSTRY

ELIZABETHTOWN — The Essex County Enhanced 911 center answered more than 67,000 calls in its first year of operation.

The center, located in the County Public Safety Building at Lewis, opened on Feb. 17, 2008, taking 911-dialed calls for 16 out of 18 towns in the county, plus the Hamilton County town of Long Lake.

Calls for Minerva go to Warren County 911, while Chesterfield's 911 calls are answered at Clinton County.

Of the 67,000 calls, about 10,000 were 911-related, County Emergency Services Director Donald Jaquish said.

He said the others were for Child Protective Services, Adult Protective Services, Home Energy Assistance Program and backup calls for county departments and agencies.

"Some are agencies we take calls for after hours."

He said the 911 center was busy in its first year of operation.

"The call volume was more than we anticipated. Our dispatchers did an excellent job of handling that many calls."

The county has at least two dispatchers on every shift. At least one State Police civilian dispatcher is also on duty in the 911 center and can back up county personnel if needed.

State Police moved their Westport station to the Lewis location at the beginning of the year. The County Sheriff's Department is also in the Public Safety Building, which is next to the new County Jail.

The highest volume of calls came in July, with 1,300 out of 7,000 total calls for the month being 911 calls.

Jaquish said they're working on a backup plan with both the Franklin and Clinton counties Enhanced 911 centers.

"We could back each other up in case of catastrophic failure. We intend to move our backup server to Clinton County, which will mirror our system once they upgrade. This will allow our system to co-exist on theirs and vice versa, allowing our dispatchers to use their system if our center becomes unusable due to fire, flood or some other calamity."

He said they're seeking grants to fund the work.

The new Essex County radio-system project will also include control capabilities for both Essex and Clinton counties, he said.

Supervisor Thomas Scozzafava (R-Moriah) said that might help the radio project qualify for some economic-stimulus funding.

"Another effort we should make is (to get funds) for this radio system. We've got everything ready. It's shovel-ready."

The system will be designed by the time the funding is available, County Manager Daniel Palmer said.

The county is replacing a 1950s-era radio system with a modern digital public-safety communications network.

It recently awarded the first contract, for design and main transmitters, to Motorola Inc. for $2.5 million.

E-mail Lohr McKinstry at: lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com

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