Worth County to Switch Emergency Services to Nodaway County

The Worth County Emergency Services Board will switch its emergency services provider from Gentry County to Nodaway County effective June 1st, 2022. The Maryville City Council unanimously approved the move at its regular City Council Meeting Monday. 

In 2020, Maryville Public Safety moved operations to the new Keith Wood Public Safety Facility located where the old Middle School used to be. As a part of that move, the City of Maryville, the Nodaway County Sheriff’s Department, and the Nodaway County Ambulance District consolidated their services within the Northwest Regional Communications Center, which provides 911 services to all three entities. 

Subsequently, Worth County Emergency Services contacted the City of Maryville, and a 31 month contract was proposed. The contract included a fixed cost of $4,500 per month for the life of the contract, while Worth County Emergency Services would be responsible for providing software and technology upgrades necessary to provide services. The Northwest Regional Communications Center will pay the $500 a month for call routing.

On February 28th, the Worth County Emergency Services Board accepted the proposal; on that day, Chairman David Hunt and Secretary Chuck Borey signed the contract.

On March 8th, the Joint 911 Oversight Board reviewed the proposed deal and unanimously recommended approval. 

Council members were excited about the deal, with councilman Tye Parsons saying that it could lead to the facility becoming a regional solution. Councilwoman Angela Martin said that deals like this could set an example for other communities. 

The move would represent cost savings for both the City of Maryville and Nodaway County, which would not have to pay as much to operate the Northwest Regional Communications Center.

WC Emergency Services Board: 911 Emergency Call Tips

Dennis Gabbert attended the Emergency Services Board meeting as a patron to discuss last weekend’s situation in which he called the Fire Department, who had trouble finding the fire at his pasture.
Gabbert said that he was burning brush that day when the fire got to the edge of a neighbor’s CRP land and got out of hand when it caught an old evergreen tree on fire. Gabbert told the board that he gave what he thought were explicit directions to the fire, only for fire crews to have trouble locating the fire.
Personnel from the 911 Call Center in Albany were on hand at the meeting; they explained that the best way for cell phone callers to get located was to stay on their cell phones until emergency service vehicles could locate them. This is because call center personnel can now ping peoples’ phones until they can get a positive location; this technology has advanced in the last few years. This is used now to locate missing persons as well. When Worth County first put in the 911 system, it was much more difficult for dispatchers to locate cell phone callers.
The location of the fire district was within Parnell’s district and there have been overlap issues over the years. But Sheridan Fire Chief Butch Thomas said that the Sheridan Fire Department was fine with handling such calls. The other issue that Gabbert had was that his cell phone locked up when he called 911 and he could not call his wife to flag down the fire trucks and direct them to the fire. That was an issue with the phone. Some Northwest Cell phones lock up during 911 calls to free up the line for the emergency.
Gabbert was on low ground when he placed his call; that creates another issue with cell phones. Sometimes, in that case, the service can be weak and you can hear only one word out of three. Sometimes, calls cannot go through at all. Both the dispatcher and Thomas tried to call Gabbert to get his location only to get no answer.
One of the main reasons dispatchers are reluctant to give out names is because of privacy laws; people can pick up names on the radio. On the other hand, current emergency protocol states that the first unit to arrive on the scene and then the local Fire Chief is in charge of an emergency situation, meaning that he can request the name of the person calling in the emergency. Thomas said that would not have done them any good in this situation since the fire was in his pasture and not at his home.
The 911 personnel will review the incident and see how they can improve their service. But most of the time, the system works fine; Board President David Hunt said that the Grant City Fire Department arrived in 10 minutes to a corn fire in his field last year. “If all we have is one concern raised per year, we’re doing pretty good,” said board member Dick VanVactor.
And one idea floating around in the legislature to consolidate a bunch of 911 call centers into regional call centers was universally declared a bad idea by everyone present. There are 147 call centers around the state and the rationale of some people in Jefferson City was that there were underserved areas. And some places, like Nodaway County, have three different 911 dispatch centers depending on the jurisdiction. But it was felt that the loss of personal service would outweigh any cost savings that could be achieved.
A new road reopened by Hunt’s place recently. Chris Spainhower requested that a formerly abandoned road be opened so that he could access landlocked pasture. It had been closed for 60 years and fenced off, but it had never been officially closed. The road has been ditched and graveled with CART gravel and will be put on the 911 map.
Tom Trullinger joined the board as a new member; he also serves as a deputy sheriff. There are 22 signs around the county that need to be fixed at a cost of around $440. The next meeting will be July 10th.

Sheridan Holds Initial Strategic Plan Meeting

Arnie Kreek of the Northwest Missouri Regional Council of Governments led the initial Strategic Plan Meeting for Sheridan with over ten community leaders and guided them through a brainstorming session about the town’s strengths and weaknesses Monday. His main point was that when communities plan, they would be in a better position to deal with changes rather than simply reacting to random events. He said that when towns do a strategic plan, they would be able to filter out unnecessary work that did not fit into the plan.
The first exercise he led the participants in was to develop a mission statement, which he said give an ongoing guide to the city without the limitations of a time frame. "In other words, how do we define our community?" asked Economic Developer Charity Austin, present at the meeting. Tim Brogan said that it was a matter of what the town can be, and Dave Thomas said that a good mission statement would also teach youth lessons, such as about citizenship, for instance.
The group agreed to meet for each of the next four weeks to discuss each of the areas of focus. Participants agreed to focus on physical appearance, parks and recreation, public services, and community development. The first two meetings were set for August 25th and September 8th at Sheridan City Hall at 6:00 p.m.; all Strategic Plan meetings are open to the public. Participants encouraged people who were not present to attend one of the upcoming meetings. Each of the participants will work on a possible mission statement for the town. After each of the four meetings are over, Kreek will meet again with the participants to work on the mission statement for the community and discuss the results of the brainstorming sessions.
Thomas said that it was important for towns to give the youth some structure; he has led hunter educations classes in the area and is starting an Archery in Schools program for the Worth County School this year. Candy Martin pointed to the Roxy Theater as an example of something that can be accomplished when communities work together. "Just because we don’t have thing doesn’t mean we can’t have them," added Austin.
Among some of the cultural aspects of the community, Jeff Blaine said that the town had a cowboy culture, pointing to the success of the annual Mud Run. Austin said that there was interest in restarting the Little Dinner Theater. Brogan said that he was worried that the history of the town was being lost, and Thomas added that most people didn’t even know about the significance of the Grist Mill in the park.
Turning to public services, Butch Thomas, who serves on the Emergency Services Board, said that the target date for starting the Enhanced 911 service for the county was April. Kreek said that another issue to consider was the Hazardous Mitigation Plan that the Regional Council was developing for the area. In local terms, for instance, how does the City of Sheridan react to reduce the threat of disaster, such as a tornado, another ice storm, or a chemical truck turning over? Or, how does the city react to special needs people who are on oxygen in the event of an extended outage?
The next topic was community development; Thomas noted that when he was young, there was a store, a gas station, and a restaurant in Denver; now, "you can’t even buy a can of pop there." In other exercise, Kreek had participants lay out strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the community. Kreek will then categorize them and they will be brought up at the upcoming meetings. Some aspects are already being addressed; for instance, Thomas and Austin are part of the Sheridan Park Restoration Fund, which is seeking to purchase a Noah’s Ark for the park.
Blaine said that it was important for the mayor and council to back the plans; "or this will all be for nought." Mayor Bud Allee said that it was a matter of figuring out where the money was going to come from. Austin said that previous plans have been effective for the community; for instance, 85% of the goals set forth in the 1999 Strategic Plan for Grant City were accomplished, including the Dollar Store and the Gunstock Factory.

Worth County Residents to Get New E-911 Addresses

As most of the residents of Worth County are aware, Worth County has entered into a contract with GeoComm Inc. of Saint Cloud MN (www.geo-comm.com) to implement an enhanced 9-1-1 system for the residents of Worth County.
Worth County residents will begin receiving notification letters within the next several weeks advising them of their new E-911 address.
Residents are requested to post their address for E-911 so that they can easily be seen by emergency service responders. Residents should use a minimum of 4 inch numbers, preferably reflective on the structure. For those residents with long driveways, addresses should be posted alongside the driveway so that they can be seen coming from both directions on the road.
Residents currently using a rural route and box number for mailing purposes will begin using their new address for mail as well as for E-911. The U.S. Postal Service will deliver to both the route/box and the new address for one year to enable residents to notify all correspondents and to use up existing stationary, checks, etc. After one year, the U.S. Postal Service will drop the route/box information from their records and will no longer deliver mail to them. Those residents receiving rural mail delivery are requested to post their new address for their route carrier in addition to posting the address for E-911. If the mailbox is located on the same road as the structure, it should be sufficient to post just the house number on the mailbox. If the mailbox is located on a different road than the structure, the house number and street name should be posted on the mailbox. Abbreviations of the road name on the mailbox are acceptable. Cluster mailboxes can have the new addresses posted and abbreviated on the lid of the mailbox.
Residents using a Post Office Box for mailing purposes should not include or use their E-911 address for mail, but are required to post their E-911 address for emergency service response. It is important for residents using Post Office Boxes to call GeoComm to confirm their physical location.
These new addresses are part of a uniform addressing system established within the County and affect all rural county residents. The addressing system was based on the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) guidelines for addressing. The purpose of the new system is to assign a complete locatable street type addressing for E-911 purposes. The addressing grid begins at 10,000 at the northwest corner of the county and increases by 1,000 addresses for each mile going north and south.
Residents who have questions or concerns after receiving their notification letter should contact GeoComm Inc., Worth County addressing consultant, at (888) 436–2666 within the next two weeks between the hours of 8:00-5:00 CST.

Emergency Services Board Minutes for April 7th, 2008

The Worth County Emergency Services Board met, April 7, 2008, at 7:00 PM at the Worth County Courthouse. Members present were David Hunt (chairman), Bill Glenn (vice chairman), Dick VanVactor (secretary), Dave Gilland (Treasurer), Bear Groom, Vern Mitchell, and Loren Jackson . Also attending was Eldon (Butch) Thomas, Jane Bevans from Geo Comm, Pat Kobbe, and David Parman.
The meeting was called to order by David at 7:00.
Motion by Bill to accept the minutes of March 3. Seconded by Loren. Motion carried 6-0.
Dave reported the bank balance to be $10,342.05. Motion by Vern to pay the fourth installment to Geo Comm. Second by Loren. Motion carried 6-0. Dick reported that the Department of Revenue had contacted him and confirmed that the Emergency Services Board was collecting revenue on all items available.
It was decided to wait until the May meeting to draw lots for terms of office, since the election is to be held the day after this meeting.
A meeting with the Gentry County 911 Board will be held April 8, 2008 12:30 PM. in Albany. David Parman met with the Board to discuss possible scenarios for the agreement between Gentry County 911 and Worth County for dispatch services for Worth County. David will be meeting with both boards at the joint meeting on April 8.
Butch reported on the Sheridan tower issue and noted that the agreement between the Sheridan Fire District and Northwest Missouri Cellular has been signed. The cost of moving the repeater to the new tower was discussed and the finances will be worked out between the fire district and the Worth County Ambulance, since they are the two entities that will be using that tower.
The road name map was reviewed. Motion by Dave to sign off on the map as completed. Seconded by Bill. Motion carried 6-0.
Jane presented a proposed signage ordinance that backs up the original ordinance #3 passed by the Worth County Commission on July 7, 2007. Dick will present it to the Commission for review and determine who needs to pass this ordinance. He will report back at the May meeting.
The moratorium on road name changes and the application for name change was reviewed. Motion by Bill to approve these documents as presented. Seconded by Dave. Motion carried 6-0.
The next meeting will be May 5th, 2008 at 7:00 PM. Motion by Bill to adjourn. Seconded by Vern. Motion carried 6-0. Meeting adjourned.

Emergency Services Board Minutes

The Worth County Emergency Services Board met, March 3, 2008, at 7:00 PM at the Worth County Courthouse. Members present were David Hunt (chairman), Bill Glenn (vice chairman), Dick VanVactor (secretary), Dave Gilland (Treasurer), Bear Groom, Vern Mitchell, and Loren Jackson . Also attending was Eldon (Butch) Thomas, Kevin Wimer, Jane Bevans from Geo Comm and Larry Haren from Sign-up Ltd.
The meeting was called to order by David at 7:00.
Motion by Bear to accept the minutes of February 4 7. Seconded by Vern. Motion passed.
Dave reported the bank balance to be $4,481.00. Motion by Bill to pay the third installment to Geo Comm. Second by Loren. Motion passed.
Larry gave a presentation on his company’s proposal to survey the county for street signs. He is to present us with a proposed cost to survey the county and to furnish and erect signs according to national standards. Estimated cost per intersection is $150 including material and labor. Jane will furnish him a map and the number of intersections to be signed. The estimated cost to survey the county is $10 per intersection.
Signs will meet the national standard for reflectivity as require in 2009 and the size and lettering standard to be required in 2012. The survey cost proposal will reflect material needed, sign locations, and labor. No action was taken. The board will decide to the action to take after Geo-Comm is paid and finances are reviewed.
A meeting with the Gentry County 911 Board was held February 12 at 12:30 PM. in Albany. David, Dick, Vern, and Butch attended. It was reported that Gentry County 911 is willing to dispatch for Worth County and that an attorney will be consulted to help work out the details of the agreement. The attorney fees will be divided equally between the two Boards.
Gentry County 911 will work up figures for dispatching and sign production. This information will be used during negotiations between the two Boards.
Jane reported on the conference call held February 27. Progress on point information was reviewed and Dick will send the new information to Chad in St. Cloud. Jane reported that addressing for cities was almost complete.
A project completion schedule was presented. Revised road maps were distributed and it was Jane’s request for the members to review the map and correct any road types for correction at the May meeting. David signed off on the map containing road names and numbers. This should finalize this step in road labels.
Jane is to get us copies of addressing ordinances for our review. These will determine the specifications required to mark structures for new addresses.
Dick reported on agreement with Northwest Missouri Cellular to place the repeater in Sheridan on the new cell tower to be erected this spring. Dick will contact R.D. Porter to see what permits will be required.
Tax revenues were reviewed and Dick will contact the County Clerk to be sure we are collecting taxes on all available revenue streams.
Election of members was discussed and the Board will draw lots at the April meeting to decide which members will serve which terms of office.
The next meeting will be April 7th, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Motion by Bear to adjourn. Seconded by Vern. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned.