Commissioners hold special workshop to discuss 911 concerns

Fifteen representatives from several first responder entities along with two ladies from ETCOG (East Texas Council of Governments) a county citizen joined Rusk County Judge Joel Hale and the Rusk County Commissioners for an in-depth discussion during a special called workshop to discuss many concerns about the Texas 9-1-1 System.

“There have been some concerns about this system. This system has been here for 31 years. Commissioners Whitworth and Gibson is responsible for this meeting,” said Judge Hale.

Commissioner Whitworth immediately responded, “I have had an issue in my precinct for a late ambulance and the right address.”

It appears there is an issue when 911 calls are called into dispatch that the master mapping system is not communicating properly to many first responders when sent out to a specific address and several times, they can’t find the address. Most of the first responders use google maps and that appears to be where the breakdown in communication is happening.

After a brief discussion about the issue Judge Hale turned the meeting over to two ladies that work with the mapping system at ETCOG. They began to explain what was happening and there were some remedies to the problem, but it could cost the county and entities a lot of money for the mapping system being used. They also explained that this problem is great in rural communities than in larger cities.

A Rusk County citizen was recognized to speak about his concerns because he had experienced the problem firsthand during an emergency and the ambulance was not able to find his address and this had happened several times.

Michael Searcy, a current city council member was recognized to speak. He is very learned in emergency processes and equipment and explained some methods that could be implemented to help remedy the situation.  He offered to help the group telling them that they needed to take the known problems, prioritize them, then deal with them until each one is fixed.

The ETCOG ladies said that their team would be willing to help. Judge Hale responded and asked them to start now because this is a serious issue for the citizens of Rusk County. He scheduled another meeting on December 12 at 9:00 a.m.

Rusk County Fire Marshall Terry Linder gave the Commissioners an update on the rain status. According to Linder in the next seven days wind gusts will be their biggest concerns because it is still dry even though some parts of the county has received some rain.

“Rusk County is in a high fire danger in the next few days,” Linder said. “I recommend keeping the burn ban in place.”

The Commissioners agreed so the current Burn Ban will remain in place with the same stipulations as before. At the end of the meeting Linder told the Commissioners Court that he was resigning soon and that he had accepted a position at the Smith County Fire Marshalls Department in Tyler. He then told everyone how he enjoyed working with the County even though he has been here a little less than a year.

Other agenda items approved were:

Changing a line in the Rusk County Subdivision Regulations Order No. 2021-08-09-CC to state tax certificates showing No delinquent taxes, which must accompany survey and plat before filing with the County Clerk

A contract agreement for fire alarm and sprinkler inspection with Johnson Controls

Read into the minutes for the amended Certification of Notification for Law Enforcement Agency to Potentially Acquire Controlled Property

The DCSP subdivision off Highway 64 in Precinct 

Award the winning bid and authorize contract for RFP for the Sheriff’s Office complete camera system, both in-car and body worn

For Precinct 1 Commissioner Randy Gaut to go onto private property on CR 173 to cut down a tree

Three requests from Telephone Co-op to place a fiber optic cable in 1.5-inch duct along/within the right-of-way of County Roads 321D, 266, and 258 in Precinct 2

A request from Rusk County Electric Co-op to place an underground power line under/across or along/within the right-of-way of CR 292E in Precinct 2