911 hires temporary employee

Statesman Staff Writer

The Stoddard County 911 Services Board of Directors approved the hiring of Mindy Razor of Dexter as a temporary employee with the salary to be paid by funds from the federal Economic Recovery Act at their regular meeting Thursday. The board also referred action on the purchase of a generator for the 911 Services building in Dexter to the Building Supervision Committee.

The only employee of county 911 Services had been Administrator Carol Moreland. Nearly a year ago the other employee resigned to take another position and the board opted not to replace her due to falling revenue. Stoddard County 911 Services receives their primary funding from a fee on telephone service for 911. This fee comes back to the county from the use of land-line phone users only. No fee is returned to 911 from cell phone service. The number of land-line users has been falling in recent years, as cell phone service continues to increase. As a result, revenue has fallen. It was decided last year to cut the office position at 911 Services, leaving Moreland as the only employee. Much of the required work in the 911 Service office requires being out in the county to verify new addresses and to work on mapping.

Moreland told the board at their last meeting that federal stimulus money was available to 911 Services to hire an employee. She told the board Thursday night that the hiring of Razor had been approved by the agency in charge on Wednesday. She said Razor's employment was through Sept. 30, but could possibly be extended until the end of the year.

Personnel Committee Chairman William Pogue noted that Razor's salary would be paid by a grant. He said she would assist Moreland with office work, answering the telephone and other duties at the office. He made the motion to hire Razor and it was approved by a unanimous vote. Board Chairman Chuck Edwards was present as were members Hank Trout, Gary Kitchen, Paul Haubold, LeVeda Banken, Dee Griffin, Mike Reinbott and David Scherer. Board members David Cooper and Willie Nelson were not present.

Moreland told the board that she has received another cost estimate on the purchase of a generator, and it again was around $30,000. She said that included automatic switchover capabilities in the event of power failure. She said the generator was large enough to run the entire building in the event of a power outage. The board felt that a previous estimate of $30,000 was too high and wanted Moreland to look at other options.

Moreland asked that the Building Supervision Committee meet to consider the options. That committee is chaired by Reinbott and includes, Scherer, Haubold and Nelson. It was decided that the committee would meet prior to the July board meeting and then make a recommendation.

Moreland said she was gathering more information about grant possibilities through the US Department of Commerce. She said $40,000,000 had been made available for 911 improvements through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). She said the deadline for filing for a grant is Aug. 1. She said she will get more information about the grant program to see if Stoddard County could benefit from the program.

Griffin, who serves as Addressing Committee chairman, said that only one new address has been added so far in June. He said 55 new addresses have been added in the months of Jan.-May, which represents one-third of the total from last year.

In final action, the board voted unanimously to pay 911 Service bills totaling $11,519.84 and to transfer $18,000 from a money market account into the operation fund. The next meeting of the board will be July 16.