WASHINGTON PARISH
COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT
Members present were:
Mr. James Coleman
Chairman
Mr. Gary Fenner
Treasurer
Mr. Mike Stogner
Vice-Chairman
Mr. Joshua Bridges
Members Absent were:
Mrs. Cynthia August
Secretary
Mr. Mike Miller
Mr.
Jason Verret
Others present were:
Mrs. Joanna Thomas
Manager
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
Mrs. Thomas 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 August 03, 2004, since
they were mailed out to each member prior to this meeting.
Mr. Fenner made the motion to
dispense with the reading of the minutes. Mr. Bridges 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 August
03, 2004. Hearing none, Mr. Coleman
called for a motion to accept the minutes as written and mailed out.
Mr. Stogner made the motion to accept and approve the minutes as written
and mailed out. Mr. Fenner seconded the motion. Motion passed by a unanimous
vote.
I have been active during the
month of August 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
The accounting system is also
working well Mr. Fenner and I continue to input the monthly financial data.
We’ve given out a total of 21
new addresses in the Parish and they are:
Franklinton
10
Mt. Hermon
03
Pine
06
Bogalusa
02
Angie
00
Total
21
I am working with Don from EBS,
Baton Rouge, to make some adjustments on the trunk side recorder performance.
The dispatcher side recordings are fine.
The recorder, however, is breaking the trunk side recordings into two or
more parts in the data base. We are
adjusting the system for better “VOX” control on the trunks.
The trunk side recording is a back up to the dispatcher side recording.
I go over to the Sheriff’s
Department central equipment room on almost a daily basis to check on things.
There have been no equipment performance issues.
Special
Projects
We hosted two TDD training
sessions last month for the police dispatchers, and will host an additional two
sessions next week. These training
sessions will assist the dispatchers in understanding the information required
by the Settlement Agreement
The mapping project is proceeding
as scheduled. I have trained Ms.
Culpepper on the mapping computer system, and she is “streaming” the Parish
roads as planned. Mr. Coleman
will discuss more details on the mapping project as part of the Chairman’s
Report.
The Franklinton Police Dept is
planning to move into their new building in the next few weeks, and we will be
testing our circuits into their building later this week.
I expect no problems in bringing them on line .
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. Bridges 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
I’m
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.
As Ms.
Thomas mentioned, the Franklinton Police Department’s new building should be
placed in operation later this month. 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
The
revised settlement agreement from the U.S. Attorney General’s Office has been
signed and returned with a check payable to the complainant.
A letter of receipt has been received.
It should be noted that this letter from the U.S. Attorney General’s
Office was complimentary toward the District on our compliance efforts to date.
Valarie
Patterson, Manager of the Deaf Action Center of the Northshore presented two
training sessions last month here at our office for the law enforcement
dispatchers. Prior to her training
I presented a 30 minute review of the District’s responsibilities under the
Settlement Agreement, as well as general updates on the CML equipment
operations. As Mrs. Thomas
mentioned, this training will be repeated next week.
After
our board meeting of last month, Jason Verret and I reviewed the 911 system with
Ronnie Manning, Acting Bogalusa Fire Chief, and gained his concurrence in moving
his 911 terminal to the Police Department. This has been accomplished.
The Bogalusa Police Department now has two 911 terminals.
Bogalusa Fire Department 911 calls are being forwarded to them via their
10 digit emergency fire phone, with a FAX of the appropriate data.
This new configuration is working well.
I have
completed our monthly PSAP report to all agencies, and have a copy for your
review.
Mapping
and Addresses
The
following summarizes the progress of our modernization efforts :
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 during the first week of October.
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 during the first week of October.
It is expected that at least one of the cellular providers will be ready
at that time to begin sending us location data.
Dispatcher
Mapping
The required documentation for
cost re-imbursement has been filed with APCO, and I expect to receive their $
50,000 payment within the next four weeks.
This payment is as per our grant approval for the Phase 2 cellular
location system to be placed in operation during the first week in October.
Wide Area Network
Design
of the PSAP WAN data backbone to be installed in conjunction with Dispatch
Mapping in October to all PSAP’s is complete.
Telephone data lines and other equipment have been ordered, and
installation is scheduled for the third week of September.
Public
911 Education
Our 911
web site continues to be updated with technical and additional data of public
interest. Audited financial data
from 1990 to 2003 has now been posted. I
am encouraged by supportive remarks about the information on the web site.
For example, a parish firefighter told me last week that, after reading
the information on the web site, he was better able to understand the upcoming
map deployment to the dispatchers. It
is allowing the public to be better informed concerning the operations of 911 in
Washington Parish, and I recommend that we continue to utilize it.
Conclusions
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. Bridges 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.
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. Mr. Fenner reviewed the check registration,
cash receipts, the account reconciliation statement and the 911 funds statement
with cash disbursements. He also recommended to the board that we close out the
CD at Citizens Bank in the amount of $75,000 and deposit it into checking. He
also asked the board to approve the closing of the CD in the amount of $21,000
at Parish National Bank and to also deposit it into the checking. These deposits
will allow the payment of an expected $ 65,000 invoice for progress payment from
CML. He asked the board to approve
and accept the revised budget for the year 2004.
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 (1) the Treasurer’s report,
(2) all the financial statements, (3) the checklist, (4) the close out of the
specified CD’s to put it into checking, (5) approval of the expected $65,000
invoice from CML, and (6) to accept and approve the revised budget for the year
2004.
Mr. Bridges made the motion to
accept and approve (1) the Treasurer’s report, (2) all the financial
statements, (3) the checklist, (4) the close out of the specified CD’s to put
it into checking, (5) approval of the expected $65,000 invoice from CML, and (6)
to accept and approve the revised budget for the year 2004.
Mr. Stogner seconded the motion. Motion passed by unanimous vote.
Due to
the absence of Mr. Gatewood, Chairman Coleman read a letter from Mr. Gatewood
and it stated that he had spoken with Ms. Johnson about the heating and A/C in
the building and she said that she will approve of us getting it fixed and
reducing the cost from our rent. The
board members concurred in this approach, and Mrs. Thomas will secure repair
quotations from local vendors.
Mr.
Coleman then reviewed the board on the current status of items being found at
the Louisiana State Surplus warehouse in Baton Rouge. It was noted that local fire departments and law enforcement
agencies have recently obtained some very nice computer equipment at extremely
low prices. For the District to
take advantage of this potential source of future equipment, the board would
need to authorize specific individuals to make purchases at the warehouse on
behalf of the District. Mr. Fenner
made the motion to authorize Mr. Coleman to make such purchases up to a maximum
amount of $ 1,000. Mr. Stogner
seconded the motion. Motion
passed by unanimous vote.
There were no committee reports
given.
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.
Mrs. August made the motion to adjourn. Mr. Bridges seconded the motion. Motion passed by a unanimous vote. Meeting adjourned at 7:20 PM.
As recorded by: Mrs. Joanna Thomas.
Approved by: ___________________________________
Mrs. Cynthia August, Secretary