Photo and Story by Rick Hiduk
In 2014, a new CAD system will be installed that should make emergency communications in Wyoming County safer and more efficient. The new software is designed to integrate existing services including the county’s GIS program.
The Wyoming County Commissioners announced on Tuesday that the county’s proposed 2014 budget will be available for public review at the courthouse in Tunkhannock on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
The preliminary figure, which will also be released on Wednesday morning, represents about a three and a half percent increase over 2013, but will not result in an increase in taxes. Chief Clerk Bill Gaylord related that the increased assessment value of the county last year and the anticipated extra tax revenue it should create will help to offset the modest increase in overall costs.
In general, Gaylord added, the county has tightened its fiscal belt. “We are watching very closely what we spend,” he stated.
The biggest challenges faced by the commissioners in putting the budget together was a dramatic increase in health care costs, which Gaylord cited at approximately $250,000, or rise of 12 and a half percent.
The final phase of flood buyouts was approved for Exeter Township. Commissioner Tom Henry noted that there are six homes that were badly damaged in the 2011 flood for which closing should now take place within a matter of weeks. The structures will subsequently be demolished.
The commissioners were most excited to discuss the county’s new CAD (computer-assisted dispatch) system that will cost between $240,000 and $254,000 to install in January. A contract was signed with SunGard Public Sector, a Florida-based software company that specializes in government and safety services.
“It will be a significant improvement,” said County Solicitor Jim Davis, who finalized some questionable language in the document prior to the three commissioners signing it on Tuesday.
Henry and fellow commissioners Judy Mead and Ron Williams participated in a test run of the new system with county EMA officials and dispatchers and were impressed with the flexibility of the program and the increased efficiency in tracking multiple elements of an evolving situation.
“It will integrate everything that the county has to offer,” said Henry.
“You can expand it as much as you want to, or limit it,” Williams added.
“I don’t think that I’ve ever seen our dispatchers more excited,” Mead related. She noted that the current system costs the county as much as $96,000 annually in maintenance costs. “What we will save in just four years in maintenance costs will pay for it.”
“Most importantly, it will increase safety in the county,” Henry remarked.
Some of the features offered by the state of the art system include an on-screen menu of questions to ask a 911 caller relative to the emergency at hand. While dispatchers usually learn the questions over time and repeat them from memory, the details were previously maintained on index cards that had to be manually accessed.
The program also maintains records of 911 callers so that previous medical information is readily available if the same person calls for assistance again. The CAD system can locate emergency vehicles throughout the county via the integrated GIS system.
Wyoming County’s new Comprehensive Plan is moving along at the expected pace after some preliminary discussions at the Nov. 20 Planning Commission meeting. A committee headed by Henry has narrowed the field of consulting companies that bid on the project to two vendors.
Committee members met recently with associates from Urban Research & Development Corporation and were impressed by the proposal from the Bethlehem-based firm. They planned to meet with the other bidder later this week, noting that the costs of the two proposals differ greatly.
The commissioners, who will do the actual hiring, stressed the importance of getting the right people to do the job, as the county’s Comprehensive Plan is in need of a serious overhaul, having not been amended since 1997.