Union County to get new E-911 emergency phone system

Union County is going to get a much-needed new E-911 emergency telephone system.

County supervisors approved spending nearly $800,000 to purchase the new system Monday.

The present system is out of date and it has become progressively more difficult to find replacement parts, Emergency Management Director Curt Clayton said. The county has had to replace or upgrade systems several times over the past 25 years due to obsolescence or new standards.

When the system was established it was to be paid for with user assessments on telephone bills. Union County got a break in that the New Albany Light, Gas and Water Department at first housed the system and operated it using dispatchers already working for the utility. This allowed the county to build up a considerable fund for future needs.

The present tower between the water tank and county school bus shop is about 70 years old and will be removed.

However, as people moved more to cellular phones that money from the assessments, only on landlines, began to dwindle. There was no provision to obtain funds from cellular users and the system was moved to the sheriff’s department where full-time dedicated dispatchers would need to be hired.

Clayton said that legislators were expected to address that issue and add assessments to cellular phones this session but the issue apparently got lost in concerns over the coronavirus. He hopes that will be done the next session. Also, there was no clear oversight over system funding but he said that the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency now has that charge, which also should help.

Although there was a fear that the E-911 fund would go broke years ago as the county had to spend on upgrades and new systems, Union County Board of Supervisors President Randy Owen said that the fund has about $165,000 in it. “Right now, it’s paying its way and we haven’t had to put money from the general fund into it,” Owen said.

The rest of the cost will be borne by a loan through Three Rivers Planning and Development District Rural Community Development Initiative and repaid, hopefully, through future fees.

Cost for the new system will be $211,081 for the system console, $234,086 for the callback system, $264,968 for the mapping and dispatch software, about $19,000 for a new tower and cable and the rest for housing and related hardware.

Prices are on state contract and the system comes with a 10-year warranty.

The new system will be capable of triangulating the location of individual cellular phones, once the state system is upgraded for that. It already has high accuracy using cell towers and can work with text as well as voice.

New tower to improve emergency FirstNet service

In a related item, the county board approved a request that will help improve other emergency communications and relieve the county of some maintenance costs and liability.

Union County supervisors tentatively agreed to allow wireless infrastructure provider Diamond Communications to construct a 250-foot lattice tower for ATT near a corner of the Union County Fairgrounds.

The purpose of the tower will be to improve communications for the FirstNet system. This is a system that gives telephone line priority to emergency services and governmental agencies so they can communicate during disasters or other emergencies without worrying about lines being tied up. It is used daily by local officials.

The rental fee ATT will pay the county, that may be in the area of $1,000 a month, will be used to help pay for the Union County E-911 emergency telephone system.

The county will receive other benefits as well, however.

The company will allow the county to move radio communication antennas that are currently on the old tower at the fairgrounds to the new one.

The present tower is old, not in the best condition and expensive to maintain. It also presents liability to the county.

It probably will take about six to nine months to get the necessary approvals for the new 240-foot tower, which will be free-standing unlike the current tower that requires guy wires and only need a lot about 50 by 50 feet. At that point the old 300-foot tower can be removed. As an example of maintenance cost for the old tower, simply replacing the light at the top would cost the county several thousand dollars.

The new tower will probably be north or northeast of the area where campers and SUVs are parked.

New drug dog to come

In law enforcement, Sheriff Jimmy Edwards received permission to purchase a new K-9 officer for narcotics patrol and apprehension.

He told the board that their current K-9 canine, Dutch, is about 12 years old, in declining health and ready to retire. The low and best bid for a new dog came from Little Rock Canine Academy at a cost of $10,950, which will be paid for out of seized drug money and not cost taxpayers anything, Edwards said. Deputy Chris Whiteside will go to spend two weeks at the academy to be certified with the dog as its handler.

“If he’s anything like Dutch he will be a good one,” Edwards said of the canine. “He’s paid for himself about 10 times.”

The next training class starts July27.

Department items

In other department business, board members approved the 2020 land roll. Tax Assessor-Collector Tameri Dunnam said the county’s assessed valuation, which determines what the tax levy will bring in, is $118,638,605. She said the county includes 19,618 parcels of real property and about 1,000 of personal property.

Union County Fire Coordinator Butch Cobb reported that county departments have made 416 calls since January. He added that he has received word from the state fire rating bureau that the Northeast Union County District has been upgraded to a Class 7 from Class 8, which should lower homeowners’ fire insurance rates. Cobb said help by officials and the donation of an old truck from West Union to Northeast Station 2 helped.

He also said he has received paperwork for round 13 of the fire truck procurement program, in which fire rebate money can be used to help purchasing trucks for rural departments. The amount will be $90,000 and Cobb said North Haven is next in line for a new truck.

In improvement projects, the board approved closing out the water expansion on Hwy. 348 that is providing service to about 30 families that had been relying on private wells. The area is being added to the New Albany system and the project paid for with a Community Development Block Grant.

Also, they approved transferring funds in connection with grants to help pay for the Martintown North Industrial Park and it new access road.

Other agenda items

Miscellaneous business included:

• Approving the routine consent agenda that included the June claims docket, board minutes, the road work schedule, medical examiner’s fees and the solid waste register.
• Reappointing New Albany Mayor Tim Kent to serve another five-term on the Three Rivers Planning and Development District board.
• Approving paying the chancery clerk for holding court and certifying Homestead Exemption applications, the circuit clerk for holding court and serving as county registrar, and the five election commissioners their allowed per diem fees for their work.
• Renewing contracts with Emilee Young Camp as Nurse Practitioner and Dr. Thomas Shands as medical staff for the Union County Jail.
• Renewing the contract with Chandler Rogers to serve as attorney for the board.
• Approving purchase of about 2.4 acres from Porter Brothers. LLC as needed right-of-way for bridge construction on County Road 46.
• Accepting low bids on several sizes of culverts needed for various locations. Also accepted was a low bid of $10,300 for a culvert that is actually a converted railroad tank car. Road Manager Scottie Wigington said the tank car costs slightly more than a galvanized culvert the same size but will probably last closer to 100 years than a decade or so.
• Approving paying $239.72 to JGCJ, Inc. and $242.72 to Bennett Hills Holdings, Inc. The payments were reimbursement for property sold at the annual tax sale in error. Tax Assessor-Collector Dunnam said leasehold property cannot be sold and an example of that was where a mobile home might situated on other property.

The next meeting of the board of supervisors is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday, July 20. They have been meeting in the circuit courtroom in the courthouse but it is not known whether this will be the case next time.