911 Board reduces office hours for service, begins tightening belt

Mike McCoy photo Stoddard County 911 Maps are now available to the public. County 911 Administrator Carol Moreland shows one of the maps which can be purchased for $15 for the 3-ring binder version or $10 for a spiral bound volume. [Click to enlarge]

The discussion was a result of a recommendation from the personnel committee to hire a part-time employee to work 20 to 24 hours a week, to assist Administrator Carol Moreland. The proposal called for paying the part-time employee $10 per hour and also to pay the cost of health insurance for that employee. Board Chairman Paul Haubold, who is on the personnel committee, said the committee met August 7 and this was their recommendation. He said the service did not want to lose their group insurance rate because there was only one employee.

Board member Gary Kitchen said the service office needed to be open five days a week, and board member William Pogue agreed. The office lost an employee last month, and opted not to fill the position. The decision meant that Moreland had to call different people to keep the office open when she was of the office on business. Someone from the office has to go out into the county to GPS new addresses for citizens and mapping for the 911 system.

Board member LaVeda Banken stated, "I don't know if I agree with paying insurance for a part-time employee."

A discussion followed about whether it would be cheaper to convert the 911 office health insurance to an individual policy or to pay for two employees on a group insurance plan.

Board member Dave Cooper questioned whether the insurance was actually a group policy, since there were only two employees initially involved.

Moreland said she believed paying health insurance for the employee would be an "incentive for them to stay."

Cooper told the board, "We have financially reached a point where we just don't have it (revenue)."

Banken suggested that the board check into the insurance further and then make a decision.

Cooper went on to say, "It's time to react, we have nothing in CDs, just in checking and we have to be prudent with our money."

Board member Dee Griffin said every county in the area was struggling to fund 911 service and that he could see 911 services "merging with surrounding counties so that it is all one service."

Cooper agreed that all 911 services in Missouri "are hurting."

All on the board agreed that the problem stemmed from the increase in the number of cell phone users. The county 911 service gets revenue from a fee assessed on land-line phone service. They get no fees or revenue from cell phone service. They also have no other source of revenue. The problem has increased as more people are leaving traditional land-line phone service, opting only for cell phone service. An attempt was made in the last legislative session to add the fee to cell phone service, but it failed to gain enough support to pass.

Each month the 911 calls are broken down to land-line use, and cell phone use. This past month, Cooper reported that there were 848 calls made to 911 and out of those, 415 were from cell phones. He noted that was almost half the calls, and none of the users paid anything for 911 service.

"Our elected officials have not come through for us," Cooper said, " and we are the only state in the U.S. that this effects."

Board member Mike Reinbott said the board has the responsibility of providing the 911 service to the people who need it, and that cutting expenses by the amount needed to staff the office properly would not save 911 services in the long run. He said it might extend the time the office stays viable by three months, but ultimately the county 911 service would run out of money.

The conversation shifted to how best to keep the office open. Pogue stated the office needed to be open five days a week. He said he did not favor closing the office two days a week, as suggested at one time. Those two days would allow Moreland to tend to addressing concerns and other 911 business outside the office.

Cooper told the board, "In one month's time, we have gone to two extremes; from no one to a person with benefits."

Kitchen asked, "How long before we can't hang on anymore?"

Moreland responded, "Two years."

Reinbott interjected, "We agree that we need a second person to relieve some stress off Carol (Moreland)."

He maintained that a second person was needed to help with the office.

Moreland was asked whether she could continue to call people as needed to fill in, and Kitchen volunteered to come and answer phones when she was out.

Vice Chairman Chuck Edwards expressed his frustration with state legislators who he said "have put us in the position we're in."

Edwards said the problem had been explained to legislators at a meeting in Advance and house hearings all over the state of Missouiri. A report concluded that a cell phone tariff was needed. Edwards said he believed something would be done to help 911 services, but nothing came from that those meetings.

There was a discussion about whether to have Moreland just close the office when she needed to leave, or post regular hours for the public.

Board sentiment was that it would serve the public best, if regular hours were kept. The board discussed closing certain days each week, or reducing the number of office hours per day.

Kitchen said the office needed to be open five days a week, and then asked Moreland what hours she would prefer.

Edwards asked, "Will this put stress on you (Moreland)?"

Cooper suggested they wait 30 days to make a decision.

Moreland said she preferred that the board make a decision immediately, so that she would know what she had to do. She said working fewer hours in the office each day would allow her to get other 911 business completed, and she would see how it worked.

Kitchen made a motion to set the hours the office would be open to Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., with no additional employees at this time. He asked Moreland to report back to the board next month to "see if it's working or any adjustments need to be made."

All voted in favor of the motion, except Reinbott. Not present were board members Willie Nelson and David Scherer.

The board voted unanimously to not purchase educational items for the fair, due to budget constraints.

Griffin reported that the service had nine new addresses for the month, bringing the total for the year to 93.

Moreland told the board that some of the personnel at the Stoddard County Ambulance District had helped take apart the posts for 911 signs and moved them to the back of the 911 service building. The posts had been stored in a building at the Ambulance District office in Dexter, but that building is to be torn down as part of their upcoming expansion.

Moreland also told the board that 911 maps were completed and would be distributed to county emergency employees and first responders. She said the maps were available in three-ring binders, or in spiral notebook versions. She asked the board to set a cost for selling the maps to the public.

After a short discussion, the motion was made to sell the 3-ring maps for $15 and spiral version for $10. Maps can be purchased at the Stoddard County 911 Service office in Dexter.