E-911

Children all across America are taught that “In case of emergency, Call 911". Unfortunately, there are still areas, mostly rural, where such a call for help would go unanswered because of the absence of this basic service. The following is a summary of how the local governments in a 7-county area of west central Georgia came together to attack and solve their common problem.

The availability of modern, E-911 services had long been a dream for the governments and residents of the Middle Flint Area. Recognition of this need led the Middle Flint Regional Development Center to make provision of E-911 services the focus of its monthly Board of Directors meeting in July 1996. The conclusion of the discussion was that costs were the controlling factor. However, the interest of the local government officials in trying to solve the problem did not waver. Independent studies funded by Sumter, Dooly and Macon Counties all reached the same findings: 1) the costs involved in the development and maintenance of separate E-911 systems were just too great for any one county to bear, and 2) even combining several adjacent counties did not make such a project feasible.

In February 2001, the Middle Flint RDC hosted a regional meeting of officials interested in investigating the development of a regional E-911 system. Representatives from all eight of the MFRDC’s member counties were in attendance. Guest speakers were the 911 Coordinator with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, and an official with a major communication company with years of experience in E-911.

Attendees were assured that readily available technology makes it possible for a single E-911 system to properly serve the emergency dispatch needs of the region without compromising quality of service. Staff with the RDC stressed the purpose of the meeting was to determine how to make the service available throughout the Region, and that if current technology is adequate to develop and operate a single system, all participants should realize significant cost savings by working regionally.

Over the next several months RDC staff convened and coordinated four meetings for local officials with telephone company representatives, E-911 equipment vendors and E-911 developers and managers. Previous findings were confirmed in the minds of local officials; i.e., technology is more than adequate to provide region-wide service with a single system, and officials from seven of the region’s eight counties were interested in pursuing system development. The eighth member county was already providing E-911 service.

Until costs were identified, none of the jurisdictions were in a position to make any commitments to fund a system which may be housed beyond their jurisdiction. Local officials needed to have costs identified so each would have some hard information to present to their respective boards and constituents.

In March 2002, the Middle Flint Regional Development Center applied for funding to cover the cost of the prerequisite study. In April 2002 the Georgia Department of Community Affairs awarded $15,000 through the Regional Assistance Program for that purpose. Five firms with E-911 experience responded to the RFP. A panel selected by the RDC Board of Directors interviewed representatives from three of the firms, and in May the best respondent was selected to perform the cost study.

The cost study, performed by the Consultant in July and August 2002, took a comprehensive approach to identifying the independent emergency response infrastructures, specific cooperative needs of the proposed consolidated system, and identifying how best to incorporate/modify existing systems into one, without compromising quality of the desired service.

In August of 2002 the OneGeorgia Authority announced establishment of the Regional E-911 Fund.

Cost study findings were presented to the RDC Board of Directors and chief elected officials in September. This led to a series of follow-up presentations by RDC staff and the Consultant in each of the counties in the proposed E-911 service area.

Two important resolutions were enacted by the participating counties in November. Local E-911 advisory boards were created in accordance with OCGA 46-5-136. These boards then completed departmental standard operating procedures for coordinating, regulating and developing the regional E-911 system, identifying mutual aid agreements necessary to affect the system, and assisting in the development of necessary rules, regulations, operating procedures and schedules.

The second E-911 related resolution enacted in November provided for imposition of telephone surcharges on exchange access facilities and wireless telecommunications connections in accordance with OCGA 46-5-134. Copies of the executed resolutions were forwarded to the telephone companies to document imposition of the surcharge. (Surcharge collections started in April 2003.)

A third resolution important in development of the proposed E-911 service was enacted in December when the last of the seven counties executed the document creating the Middle Flint Regional E-911 Authority (OCGA 46-5-138). The seven member counties are Dooly, Macon, Marion, Schley, Sumter, Taylor and Webster.

The organizational meeting of the Authority was held January 30, 2003. At the third meeting, held on February 25, a site in Ellaville in Schley County was selected for the regional E-911 center. This site was selected from a number offered by local governments, based upon the recommendation of the Consult. The City of Ellaville donated the parcel to the Authority.

In March the Authority submitted corporate registration papers to the State. It also submitted an application for $700,000 in grant funds to the OneGeorgia Authority through the Regional E-911 Fund. This application was prepared by Middle Flint RDC staff

In May the Authority contracted with a company to collect GPS point data for addresses throughout the region. Then GEMA approved the E-911 configuration plan which states how calls are to be received and dispatched.

In early August, 2003 the OneGeorgia Authority announced approval of the $700,000 application. By the end of the month all seven counties had signed the intergovernmental agreement affirming E-911 center compliance with applicable state codes, ownership of E-911 property, employment of a director, cost- sharing, provisions for county withdrawal from the system, etc.

Six companies provide land-line telephone service in the new E-911 service area. In early September all six executed the Letter of Intent from the Middle Flint Regional E-911 Authority, authorizing them to proceed with implementation of E-911 services.

In January of 2004, the Authority let the contract for the design/build of the new structure to house the operations of the Regional E-911 Center. In April, the first Executive Director of the Middle Flint Regional E-911 Authority was hired.

The Middle Flint Regional E-911 Center was officially opened and dedicated at a July 16, 2005 ceremony attended by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue and many area elected officials and citizens. The trained operators of the Center are now dispatching emergency calls to over sixty-five emergency response agencies. These agencies serve 81,000 residents located in 7 counties and 21 cities.

The Middle Flint Regional Development Center Board and Staff have been pleased and excited to play both an initiator and supporting role in the formation of the Middle Flint Regional E-911 Authority, and in the securing the grant portion of the necessary funding for the construction and equipping of the E-911 Center. The Middle Flint E-911 Center is an excellent example of successful, voluntary regional cooperation. It is the largest such center in Georgia in regard to both the size of the area served and the number of counties involved. The project was selected as a “Notable Project” by the Association County Commissioners of Georgia in March of 2006 for showing “how multi-county cooperation can bring needed services to citizens”.