WASHINGTON
PARISH COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT
A
regularly scheduled and properly and advertised Washington Parish Communications
District Board meeting was held on October 05, 2004, at the E-911 Planning
Office located at 1007 Cleveland Street.
Members
present were:
Mr. James Coleman
Chairman
Mr. Gary Fenner
Treasurer
Mr. Mike Stogner
Vice-Chairman
Mrs. Cynthia August
Secretary
Mr. Joshua Bridges
Mr. Mike Miller
Mr.
Jason Verret
Others
present were:
Mrs. Joanna Thomas
Manager
Mr. Kenny Gatewood
Attorney
Chairman
Coleman called the meeting to order at the appointed time of 6:00 p.m.
Mr.
Gary Fenner opened with prayer and the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the
United States.
ROLL
CALL OF BOARD MEMBERS
Mr.
Verret called the roll. The results of that roll call are recorded above.
READING
OF THE MINUTES
Chairman
Coleman called for a motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes of
September 07, 2004, since they were mailed out to each member prior to this
meeting.
Mr.
Stogner made the motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes. Mrs. August
seconded the motion. Motion passed by a unanimous vote.
Chairman
Coleman asked if there were any deletions, corrections or additions to be made
to the minutes of September 07, 2004. Mr.
Fenner made the suggestion that copy of the revised approved budget be added to
the minutes for next month. Mr. Coleman called for a motion to accept the
minutes as written with the addition of the revised budget be added into this
month’s minutes to be mailed out. Mr.
Stogner made the motion to accept and approve the minutes as written and mailed
out. Mr. Miller seconded the motion. Motion passed by a unanimous vote.
MANAGER’S
REPORT
The Manager’s report was read by Chairman Coleman due
to the few minutes that Mrs. Thomas was absent during the meeting.
I have been active during the month of September with both
the normal daily operational issues of the office plus supporting our special
projects. First, let me report on the daily operational issues:
All PSAP’s have
been equipped with their new equipment and the new equipment is working well. In
the month of September Gage telephone received five calls for assistance from
the PSAP’s. Three calls were for
assistance in re-booting their computer which was accomplished over the phone,
one was for resetting their monitor sensitivity which was accomplished over the
phone, and one was for changing the telephone number of Troop L on the speed
dial buttons.
I go over to the
Sheriff’s Department on almost a daily basis to check on the performance of
the system. There have been no equipment performance issues other than those
noted above.
On September 8th,
I received a call from Mayor Brown of Franklinton who requested information
concerning the receipt of calls by the 911 system from an incident at the
Franklinton Country Club. Mr.
Coleman and I researched this incident, and Mr. Coleman will report on this in
more detail.
During Hurricane
Ivan I attended the OEP planning meetings and assisted in the installation and
start up of a second dispatch position for the Sheriff’s Office.
The accounting
system is working well Mr. Fenner and I continue to input the monthly financial
data.
We’ve
given out a total of 28 new addresses in the Parish and they are:
Franklinton
18
Mt.
Hermon
00
Pine
02
Bogalusa
06
Angie
02
Total 28
The
mapping project is proceeding as scheduled. Ms. Culpepper is “streaming” the
Parish roads as planned. This will
continue for the next six months until all are streamed.
Next
week will be quite busy, as we install our cell phone location system, teach one
TDD class and two map system operations classes for the dispatchers.
Mr. Coleman will have additional information on this in his report.
This has been an
interesting and productive month for our office. I would like to thank the board
for their support and inputs.
Chairman
Coleman asked for questions or comments on the Manager’s Report, and hearing
none, asked for a motion to accept and approve the report as written. Mr. Verett
made the motion to accept and approve the Manager’s Report as written, and Mr.
Stogner seconded the motion. Motion
passed by a unanimous vote.
CHAIRMAN’S
REPORT
Chairman
Coleman reported that he is happy to report that the progress of the Commission
has been excellent over the past month and that the day to day issues of the
Commission have been effectively handled in the office.
The
Franklinton Police Department’s new building has not yet been placed in
operation. Our equipment
installation will be completed next week and I see no problems in transitioning
our 911 service from their old building to their new building.
Once their new building is up and running, the CML equipment being
utilized in their old building will be placed in maintenance spares.
As you
remember from a previous report, the Franklinton Police Department 911 recorder
has been destroyed by lightening. I
have now heard that the Bogalusa Police Department 911 recorder has also been
destroyed by lightening. Our new
system has not been affected.
Other
Issues
As Mrs. Thomas
mentioned, Valerie Patterson, Manager of the Deaf Action Center of the
Northshore will present a “make up” TDD training session next week.
This will complete our initial training commitment under the Settlement
Agreement.
We have set a date of October 26, at 7:00 PM, here at the
District’s offices, to have an outreach meeting entitled, “911 for the
Hearing and Speech Impaired”. I
have attached an informational memo concerning this meeting for your review.
As Mrs. Thomas also reported, we received a request for
information concerning an incident at the Franklinton Country Club.
First, I would like for you to listen to the 911 call which prompted
Mayor Brown’s request. I have a
copy of our reply to the agencies concerning this incident.
This reply contains the factual information concerning call times to the
PSAP’s. The PSAP’s do not have
access to information at other locations, and this incident had multiple PSAP
involvement. Our involvement was thus necessary to fully document the incident.
Mayor Brown was thankful for our prompt response.
I have
also completed our monthly PSAP report to all agencies, and have a copy for your
review. I call your attention to the dramatic improvement in 911 Ring Time.
This has already been a major benefit of our new system, and will be part
of a press release in October.
As an
example of call taker performance which I believe could be improved, I would
like you to listen to the recording of two additional 911 calls during the last
few days. Perhaps we can
proactively encourage improvements by the PSAP’s.
I am
pleased to report that we have received a re-imbursement of expenses from the
Public Safety Foundation of America for $ 53,000. I have also completed a final
report to the Public Safety Foundation of America concerning our Phase II
Implementation Grant, and have attached a copy for your review.
We have
received a request to fund the attendance of Bogalusa Police Department
dispatchers to attend “Call Taking of Terrorism Incidents”, at a cost of
approximately
Lastly,
I have asked Joanna to begin the process of obtaining quotations for the repair
of the building’s heating system. After
these quotes have been obtained, and if the board approves, Kenny will write the
re-imbursement of costs into the lease language for this address.
In addition, the board may wish to examine other alternatives related to
this building. I suggest that to
allow additional time for data acquisition, that this subject be placed on next
month’s agenda.
Next
month’s agenda should also include the re-nomination of three board members
whose terms expire at the end of the year:
Mike Miller, Mike Stogner, and Jim Coleman.
Also at
next month’s board meeting, the agenda should include a review of possible
alternatives for the annual Christmas meeting.
The
following summarizes the progress of our various special projects:
Map
Development
Map
development continues forward as Mrs. Thomas mentioned in her report.
The first issue of the map will be placed in operation with the
dispatchers next week. Subsequent
revisions will occur monthly for the next four months.
Our target to start the plotting of landline 911 telephone calls is
February, 2005.
Phase 2
Wireless Implementation
The
wireless Phase 2 implementation team continues to work with the carriers to
manage their implementation efforts. Phase
1 and Phase 2 cellular telephone locating will begin concurrently with the map
installation next week. It is
expected that two of the six cellular providers will begin sending us location
data during the month of October, and another two in November.
This will leave an additional two to begin data transmission by the end
of the year.
Dispatcher
Mapping
The required software will be
installed next week. The PSAP’s
have been notified as per the attached notification.
Wide
Area Network
Design
of the PSAP Data Backbone to be installed in conjunction with Dispatch Mapping
is complete. Telephone data lines
and other equipment have been ordered, and installation is scheduled for this
week.
Public
911 Education
Our 911
web site continues to be updated with technical and additional data of public
interest. I am encouraged by
supportive remarks about the information on the web site.
A new Section has been added called News Notes, and I have placed this
information below for your review.
(Franklinton,
10/05/2004) - The
Washington Parish Communications District congratulates the Parish's three
PSAP's on their continued improvement in 911 Ring Times (time to answer 911
calls) since the replacement of equipment in July, 2004.
(Franklinton,
9/22/2004) - The
Washington Parish Communications District meets requirements and receives grant
payment of $ 52,000 from the Public Safety Foundation of America to be applied
toward the installation of a Phase 2 wireless location capabilities. This
system is scheduled for start up in October of 2004, and will be the third such
system in the state of Louisiana.
(Franklinton,
9/15/2004)-
In preparation for Hurricane Ivan, the Washington Parish Communications District
installed a temporary, second 911 answering position at the Washington Parish
Sheriff's Office in anticipation of increased call volume during the expected
severe weather.
(Franklinton,
9/13/2004)
- U. S. Attorney Jim Letten announced the settlement of a complaint brought
under the Americans with Disabilities Act by a deaf woman who could not get
through to her area 911 emergency service on her TDD (Telephone Device for the
Deaf also known as a TTY).
(Franklinton,
7/16/2004)
- The Washington Parish Communications District completed the
replacement of all its original 911 equipment on July 16, 2004. As of that date, the entire parish is linked together with a
single integrated 911 telephone system.
Our
agency is making much progress to improve 911 communication services in
Washington Parish.
I would
like to thank both the board and the staff for their hard work on the many
complex challenges currently facing us.
Chairman
Coleman asked for questions or comments on the Chairman’s Report, and hearing
none, asked for a motion to accept and approve the report as written. Mr. Verett
made the motion to accept and approve the Chairman’s Report as written, and
Mr. Stogner seconded the motion. Motion
passed by a unanimous vote.
TREASURER’S
REPORT
Mr. Fenner reviewed the financial
statements beginning with the current assets.
He then reviewed the balance sheet, both assets and liabilities, followed
by the income and budget statements which reflect the 2004 revised budget that
was approved in last month’s meeting. Mr. Fenner informed the board that we received the Grant
money that Chairman Coleman had applied for, he also showed where the CD from
PNB was closed out and put into the checking account, which was approved by the
board last month to do so. Mr.
Fenner then reviewed the check registration, cash receipts, the account
reconciliation statement and the 911 funds statement with cash disbursements.
Mr. Fenner asked if there were any questions or comments regarding any of
the financial statements.
Chairman Coleman called for
questions or comments on the Treasurer’s Report. Hearing none, Chairman
Coleman called for a motion to accept and approve the Treasurer’s report,
all the financial statements, and
the checklist.
Mr. Miller made the motion to
accept and approve the Treasurer’s report, all the financial statements, and
the checklist. Mr. Stogner seconded
the motion. Motion passed by unanimous vote.
OLD BUSINESS / NEW BUSINESS
Chairman Coleman handed the PSAP
report out to each member for their review and reported that it will be mailed
out to each agency as well. It was
then suggested that we change the date for our 911 meeting from November 02 due
to it being Election Day to November 9th . All in attendance agreed to the meeting date change.
Following a discussion of
training for dispatchers, it was suggested by Mr. Miller that we look into
giving the Basic Training class for each agency. Mr. Coleman said that he would
find out the cost, and report to the board at the next meeting.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
There were no committee reports
give
PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were no
public comments.
Chairman Coleman called for any
additional comments or questions from the members of the board.
Hearing none, he called for a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Mr. Miller made the motion to adjourn. Mr. Stogner
seconded the motion. Motion passed by a unanimous vote.
Meeting adjourned at 7:30 PM.
As recorded by: Mrs. Joanna Thomas.
Approved by: ___________________________________
Mrs. Cynthia August, Secretary