Published: May 20, 2008 12:14 am            

County approves reverse 911 contract

Residents will be contacted by phone during emergencies

Howard County residents will be informed of severe weather warnings and other emergencies by telephone calls in the near future.

The Howard County Commissioners on Monday approved a contract with Codespear to provide reverse 911 service in the county.

Larry Smith, director of the Howard County Emergency Management Agency, said the service should be operational in the next 60 to 90 days.

The cost of installation and the first year’s service is $25,000 with each subsequent year having a base cost of $24,150.

Included in the yearly cost is 150,000 telephone calls to county residents through Codespear.

The county will pay for the service with revenue collected through its 911 fund, which is a monthly fee on all telephone and cellular telephone numbers.

Smith said the county will not have automatic alerts issued by Codespear through the National Weather Service.

He explained weather conditions are monitored at the Emergency Management operations center and by dispatch. Smith said Codespear could then be contacted to issue a warning.

Telephone calls can be directed to certain areas of the county depending on the emergency or the track of a severe storm, Smith said.

“This is a needed service, it’s time the county bit the bullet and have it available,” Commissioner Brad Bagwell said.

Commissioner Paul Raver agreed that the service was needed, but he had concerns about overloading the local telephone system or storms knocking out phone lines.

Smith said calls are made from three call centers operated by Codespear, none of which are located in Indiana.

“This is a better system than putting sirens around the county,” Raver said.

Last year the city of Kokomo considered spending $150,000 on the installation of warning sirens, but the funding was not approved by the Kokomo Common Council.

Ken de la Bastide can be reached at (765) 454 -8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com

        

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