12 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, August 13, 1997 Comm Center (continued from page 1) mitted to setup a 911 system and finance it by a charge on each phone line,” explained Melnick, who said the BMCC is asking for the current $1.25 monthly charge per line to go to them. “We are a regional 911 system. We serve a specific geographical area, the Back Mountain.” Melnick said the county and attorney general's office tend to think the law only pertains to counties. The trial date is set for October, but Melnick said they have been trying to settle the lawsuit out of court since its filing in 1994. “We haven't gotten a straight answer yet from the county,” he said. Marco Bourne of the Pennsyl- vania Emergency Management Agency said the state supports countywide systems, but stresses that individual counties and mu- nicipalities should work to deter- mine what is safest for the com- munity. “Single systems are encour- aged,” said Bourne. “Multiple dispatch centers can be a cum- bersome process.” When asked if slower service or dispatchers un- familiar with the area could cause problems, Bourne said many old issues like these do not occur often. Bourne said the new “en- hanced” systems are cost and safety effective. “The state’s two main concerns are that the com- munity is served and that sys- tems are technologically possible,” he said. “The state won't step in (between counties and munici- palities).” Luzerne County’s “enhanced” system will be state-of-the-art, according to Ron Rome, intragovernmental coordinator for Luzerne County Emergency Sys- tem. Rome said the many fea- tures of the “enhanced” system will prove effective in getting bet- ter emergency and non-emergency service to the entire county. A caller's phone number and address pop up on the dispatcher’s screen before the phone rings. Rome said this is important in case someone called, had to hang up and could not get back to the phone. dress to go on,” he said. Rome said in this situation a police car © is always dispatched to the ad- dress just in case. Some supporters of the BMCC think this system could be a bur- den to keep current and question “At least we have an ad- Agency whether non-local Seacle could accurately give addresses to local emergency units due to the many rural route addresses. “The BMCC works great. They" know the people and the area,” said Brian Johnson, Trucksville fire chief. Rome said the county's sys- tem will be kept current by phone company records. “We expect hundreds of changes daily,” said Rome. “Also, we're going to make sure we verify the address. It's mainly a safeguard in case they hang up.” In the case of rural routes, Rome said a “ghost addressing” process will eliminate the prob- lem. “We will go in and address the rural routes. It will be an internal system just for our map- ping purposes. For example, if it's RR2, we will call it RR2 Maple St.,” he said. Charles Inmamorati, customer service supervisor for the Dallas post office, said out of the ap- proximately 5,600 Back Moun- tain residents the post office serves, about 3,000 have street addresses. Regardless of the “enhanced” system, many think the loss of local dispatchers and a smaller center will result in the loss of fast and efficient service. James Balavage, Kingston Township police chief, is in full support of keeping the BMCC. He believes the benefits lie in fast dispatching, a small number of police units on one frequency, which creates a higher level of efficiency for police officers them- selves, and the Uniscope System that is used for criminal history checks. Balavage believes Back Moun- tain inclusion in the county sys- tem will put the police in a ticklish situation. “At the BMCC, all calls get dispatched as soon as they come in; both emergency and non- emergency. The county will put non-emergency calls on a proto- col system,” he said. Balavage used an example of a loud party on a weeknight. 4 POST PHOTO/KYLIE SHAFFERKOETTER Barry Stubeda, a Jackson Township patrolman and dispatcher-in- training, takes a phone call at the Back Mountain Communications Center in Dallas Township. The center's fate is unsure because the county wants to include the Back Mountain in its new countywide 911 system. “It's 1 a.m. and you have to get up at 5 a.m. You call the county to report it and they may sit on it for a while. By the time the police get there it's half an hour later and your upset with the police,” he said. He also mentioned smaller, community services the BMCC provides. “If people call and want to find out which roads will be closed for the Memorial Day pa- rade, they wouldn't get that infor- mation right away because the county dispatcher wouldn't know and would have to tell them to call the police, who most likely aren't in the office. Ultimately the pub- lic will blame the police,” said Balavage, who believes since the police have the most contact with people, they will take the flack for inconvenience. Rome said the 911 system is set up to serve the police and rescue teams. “We are an inter- face between the people and emer- gency workers,” he said. “If Balavage wants to know every time there's an accident report, we'll tell him. We don’t make decisions, we do what the police departments tell us. They will set the policy and procedure.” But, critics think the county already has too much on its plate. “Just by turning on the radio, you can tell the county isn't good at providing service,” said Wagner. Bought it elsewhere? Bring it to us. We honor all specialty muffler-shop muffler warranties! | If your muffler fails, even if you bought it at another specialty muffier shop®, bring it to us and we'll repair or reriace it absolutely 2) free! Why? Because we're serious about vr Zoo Cole Muffler customers #1. “Warranties or mufflers accepted from specialty muffler shops only. Must present war- ranty certificate at time of service. 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