Schuylkill County citizens should see improved 911 service thanks to a new computer-aided dispatch system the commissioners have agreed to buy.
"It's really seamless," county Communications Director Scott D. Krater said Monday of the system that will replace the current one used by the Communications Center. "It's going to do a lot of interfacing ... with the (Emergency Management Agency).
The county commissioners on Wednesday approved the agreement with Logistics Systems, Missoula, Mont., to buy the software system for $404,540.
County Administrator Mark J. Scarbinsky said Monday that the age of the old system was a factor in the decision to obtain a new one.
"That's been something in place since 2002," Scarbinsky said of the old system. "It's worn out."
Krater said the new system will provide more information from phone calls made to the center.
"It takes those calls and gives us locations," he said.
Krater said the system will take the information from the calls, put it in and give better locations and dispatching, enabling the center to determine exactly what fire companies and ambulance services can be dispatched.
Furthermore, the system will be more affordable because the county will be spreading out the payments over four years, according to Scarbinsky. The county is doing the same thing when it buys vehicles, he said.
"We seem to be doing it more," Scarbinsky said of spreading out payments over more than one year. "It becomes much more practical from a cash flow perspective."
The commissioners also took the following actions during Wednesday's meeting:
- Approved the annual software license for 2014 for the Election Bureau of $25,770.
- Approved two agreements with Westlaw for computer services for the county Law Library. County Law Librarian D. Susan Kost said each will expand available databases for the computers.
- Approved $6,100 for additions to the rehabilitation project at Gaudenzia, Fountain Springs.
Also on Wednesday, the commissioners made the following appointments to county agencies:
- Maggie Maskerines, Pottsville, to a three-year term on the Children & Youth Advisory Board.
- John Boyer and Roy Heim, both of Orwigsburg, to five-year terms on the Municipal Authority.
- Kelly Austin, Orwigsburg, and Tony Baran, Fountain Springs, to three-year and five-year terms, respectively, on the Airport Authority.
- Mary Beth Dougherty, Girardville, to a five-year term on the Housing Authority.
- Scott Thomas, Pottsville, to a three-year term on the Zoning Hearing Board.
