Sheriff still wants 3rd dispatcher
Published 12:00 am Sunday, August 18, 2013
Getting a third dispatcher for 911 remains the goal of Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless.
However funding those three additional employees remains the question.
“My plan is I want to get this 911 system the way it was designed two years ago with all dispatching under the same roof,” Lawless said. “When you dial 911, that dispatcher will be able to dispatch what emergency service you need. However it is going to cost more money to do this. There will have to be three full-time dispatchers at all times. We are going to have to put more full-time people on the payroll, which may include some of the part-time people.”
At the Lawrence County Commission’s Thursday meeting Lonnie Best, 911 director, said part of getting that operation up and running is paying for the software from the new computer system of Emergitech and its maintenance.
Total cost for that is $70,000 with $35,000 already earmarked from the 911 budget.
“We will do dispatching for everything but the state patrol,” Best said.
The director asked the commission to review possible ways to find funding.
In other action the commissioners:
• Approved a memo of understanding on the design of landslide PW 10908 on Township Road;
• Heard a report by Commissioner Freddie Hayes that $40,000 was raised at Friday’s John Paul Kelley Glo Run to benefit for the injured Proctorville man.