Charles “Chuck” Wyckoff, 9-1-1 board member, said the board and Pafford EMS have been working on the agreement after the ambulance service asked 9-1-1 to dispatch for them.
He told the commissioners, “Pafford is closing their Claremore dispatch office.”
Calls for an ambulance service in Sequoyah County were being dispatched through the Claremore office, which sometimes caused a delay.
Now, Wyckoff said, Pafford dispatchers will be working with the 9-1-1 service, which is in the Sequoyah County Courthouse.
Wyckoff said, “They will pay $1,500 a month for the dispatch service, and we believe the community will receive the benefit.”
He added that the memorandum has been reviewed and approved by the district attorney. The $1,500 a month from Pafford EMS will be used for training and salaries.
Wyckoff said the combined dispatch went into service at midnight Tuesday, the beginning of the new fiscal year.
Wyckoff and Sheriff Ron Lockhart are also working an agreement to combine the sheriff’s and the 9-1-1 dispatch.
Wyckoff also reported on the progress of the signage and new addressing for the county, which is expected to help emergency services locate emergency situations.
“We have completed the first stage of the sign installation,” he said. “This week were are going to survey the county to fix signs that have been knocked down or stolen.”
The next phase of the project will be installing signs at 385 locations in the Sequoyah 9-1-1 area. Wyckoff said the making of the signs, which is being done by the KIBOIS Community Action Foundation, is behind schedule because lighting struck some of their equipment at their workshop in McAlester.
Wyckoff also reported that Voice Over Computer (VOC) telephone serves are being identified, and the 9-1-1 system, funded by telephone fees, may soon receive additional funding from VOC fees.
Sheriff to Get New cars
Lockhart reported to the commissioners that the recent sheriff’s auction and a grant from the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Grant Program have provided enough money for him to buy two new vehicles for the sheriff’s office. He said the two vehicles will cost $47,946 and the grant money will pay for the special equipment, such as lights and sirens, to be installed.
Lockhart said in the past that the majority of the sheriff’s vehicles have over 200,000 miles on their odometers.
The Byrne grant Web site explains that the grant program awards “…grants to states for use by states and units of local government to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system—with emphasis on violent crime and serious offenders—and enforce state and local laws….”
Boat Donated
Chris Keathley, Sequoyah County Emergency Management director, reported to the commissioners that he has donated an older rescue boat to the Blackgum Volunteer Fire Department.
Keathley said, “They have assured me that if the boat is needed (for an emergency situation) in any part of the county they will bring the boat to that site.”
Keathley explained that the boat was donated to the Blackgum department because the department has first responders and about 85 percent of their calls are from Lake Tenkiller.
“They do a lot of rescue on the lake,” Keathley said.
Keathley said emergency management has obtained a new 18-foot flat-bottom boat for emergencies, and the emergency equipment was transferred from the old boat to the new one. The new boat cost a little over $9,000 he said, and was paid for with grant money.
Temporary budget
The commissioners also approved a temporary appropriation of $1,277,285 for the beginning of the new fiscal year.
District 1 Commissioner Bruce Tabor explained the temporary appropriation allows the county to continue business while the budget for the 2010 year is finalized. The budget for the new fiscal year is most usually approved in the fall. In the meantime the temporary appropriation allows the county to continue operations, and the appropriation is half of the previous year’s budget.
