Annette Hayden Havre Daily News ahayden@havredailynews.com
Havre and Hill County emergency management officials moved on EMS communication improvements Tuesday, during a special meeting of the Havre- Hill County E911 Board. Board members voted 4-3 to allocate $14,598 in E911 funds to replace a failed 911-call recorder. The “dictaphone” recorder was used to record law enforcement radio activity and 911 calls at the city dispatch center. The recorder recently failed for the second time in 18 months, Havre Police Chief Mike Barthel told the board. A back-up recorder was in place while the equipment was being assessed, but it was found to be limited in its recording ability. The situation became critical, Barthel said, when the back-up failed to provide a 911-call recording requested by the county attorney’s office. Board members said the presence of an operable recorder is required under the state’s E911 guidelines. E911 funds being used for the purchase will come out of funds allocated to the local board quarterly by the state. The funds are collected from land-line phone services, at 50 cents a month per service line. After an indepth discussion of possibly repair and purchase options, the E911 board approved the purchase of a new recorder from NICE Systems, a worldwide analytical solutions provider based in New Jersey. The purchase price reflects a tradein discount Barthel negotiated in the amount of $6,272 in exchange for the expired recorder. The price also includes installation, frequency configuration and dispatch-staff training. NICE has service technicians located in Montana and the unit will be under a full one-year warranty. In other business board members:
Reported completion of the Northern Tier Communication Consortium project is expected in August.
Discussed an automation problem in the city’s E911 mapping terminal, which is currently being investigated by (under the investigation of) service and software providers.
Accounted the receipt of $17,000 in E911 funds for the fourth quarter in 2006.
Approved a $128 payment to renew Havre Fire Deparment’s paging system maintenance agreement for another year.
Received public request for a twoyear accounting of E911 Board activities from a private individual.
The next regular Havre-Hill County E911 Board meeting will be held at 1:30 p. m. Tuesday, May 8, at the Hill County Detention Center.
