Perry County Fire & EMS
I received a thoughtful set of questions from someone who works for a public safety team here in Perry County. Here are the questions and my responses.
– Ben Carpenter, Perry County Commissioner
Do you have any ideas for upgrades to the dispatching system?
The Perry County Commissioners approved a complete upgrade to our County 911 center September 20, 2020. While keeping the 911 Center at 121 West Brown Street we moved the Center into a much larger space to accommodate additional dispatch stations and space for the Sheriff’s law enforcement dispatching core.
With that move we installed state-of-the-art Motorola equipment and IT software. In total we spent $628,557.77 for the upgrade. County funds were used for this upgrade; no levy money was used. There are no plans for any upgrades to the dispatching system at this time. If you compare us statewide, we are ahead of the curve.
Will the County be assisting departments in any capacity, especially the departments in the southern part of the county that are struggling to provide equipment to their departments and coverage to their areas?
We are always looking for opportunities to help Fire and EMS Departments throughout Perry County. Almost two years ago we offered reimbursement funds to all departments to be used to update Marks radios. To date, I do not believe any department has presented a reimbursement invoice for that expense. In defense of every department, we have been told that delays at Motorola have prevented them from completing those updates. Those funds are still available if and when those updates can be made.
Any other thoughts about the fire and EMS in Perry County?
Fire and EMS Service is and continues to be on the shoulders of Villages, Townships and their core of community volunteers that have been the life blood of every department. There is no “County” Fire / EMS. That would be the most massive change to Fire / EMS ever and would have to be led by those Villages and Townships. The Perry County Commissioners have absolutely no authority to direct or dictate operations to community departments.
I am always available, as well as the Board of Commissioners, to be a part of those conversations to identify specific problems and find viable solutions.
