Addressing work for 911 done

The committee charged with the implementation of 911 phone service in Fayette County has reached a milestone.
And that committee remains hopeful that it can meet its goal of having the emergency phone service available by late next year.
Fayette County Board Chairman Steve Knebel, who also serves as the chairman of the county’s 911 committee, announced at Tuesday’s county board meeting that the committee has turned over all of its addressing information to the U.S. Postal Service.
“All indications are that it’s going to be a while” before the USPS completes its review of that information, Knebel said.
“We were told that there are four counties in line (for addressing review), and that they will try to do more than one (county) at a time,” he said.
“We’re in a waiting game right now,” Knebel said.
Knebel said that in an effort to speed up the approval of the 911 addressing, the committee will be contacting U.S. Congressman John Shimkus (R-Ill., 19th District).
“I don’t know if that will help, but we’ve got to make every effort to keep this going as quickly as possible,” Knebel said.
Once all of the addressing is approved by the USPS, the 911 committee will proceed with the purchase of 911 equipment.
Knebel said the committee may initiate that work a little bit early, but not too early. If it purchases the equipment too far in advance, he said, by the time the service becomes available, it could already have to be updated.
He’s optimistic that the committee can still meet its goal of having 911 service available within five years of a 911 surcharge being approved by county residents.
“It may be wishful thinking, but I’m hopeful that we can have it going by October or November of next year,” Knebel said.
Van Boatman, who was in the audience at Tuesday’s county board meeting, asked Knebel how the committee would proceed with the purchase of new road signs for rural areas.
Knebel and Darrell Schaal, another county board member who serves on the 911 committee, told Boatman that signage won’t be an issue, since the committee decided to stick with the quadrant system currently used for rural roads.
“Every house will have a house number,” Schaal said, and Knebel added that the county will be getting rid of the rural route part of the addressing system.
At the November 2008 general election, county residents approved the addition of a $2.75 surcharge to their monthly bills for landline phones.
The measure passed in a 5,919-3,468 vote, with the issue carrying in 27 of the county’s 32 precincts.
In addition to Knebel and Schaal, those serving on the 911 committee include county board member John Daniels Jr., Fayette County Sheriff Aaron Lay, Vandalia Police Chief Larry Eason and representatives of Fayette County Hospital and area fire departments.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Knebel announced that in order to meet its recent payroll, the county had to take $85,000 out of its capital improvement fund.
“At the next meeting, it will be more,” Knebel said, talking about taking money out of the fund the county created with the proceeds from the sale of its coal rights.
Board member Jeff Beckman asked, “What are we going to do when it runs out? That’s the issue.”
Knebel said he’s optimistic that the county can make through the end of this year, and that it will then have to take a close look at its finances when formulating a new budge.
During the discussion, Knebel asked Fayette County State’s Attorney Stephen Friedel whether the county can legally lower budget figures. Friedel agreed to research that issue.
Later in the meeting, as the board approved the county’s monthly bills, Knebel said, “This is one of those places where we need to start looking.”
In paying close attention to the county’s spending, he said, the finance committee is “keeping a close on overtime.”
Also at Tuesday’s meeting:
• The board approved the appointment of Carol Price of Ramsey to the Fayette County Hospital District Board of Trustees through June 30, 2014.
She takes the seat previously held by Norris Price, also of Ramsey.
• The board approved the reappointment of David Belden of St. Elmo as a member of the St. Elmo Fire Protection District Board of Trustees. His new term runs through the first Monday in May 2015.
• The board approved a resolution supporting Kaskaskia College’s plan for future capital projects.
• The board approved a letter of support for FAYCO Enterprises, which will be included in the sheltered workshop’s application for a transportation capital grant.
• The board approved preliminary engineering agreements with Rhutasel and Associates of Centralia for three bridges: over Mocassin Creek, about six moles north of St. Elmo; over Little Creek, about 4.7 miles northeast of Ramsey; and over Suck Creek, about 5.8 miles northwest of Brownstown.
• Knebel reminded board members that the regular April meeting will be held on Thursday, April 12. The meeting will be held two days later than normal due to the township caucuses being held on Tuesday, April 10.