Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 17, 1995                   TAG: 9508170050
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT                                 LENGTH: Medium

HELP TO FIX 911 SYSTEM URGED

And the county Board of Supervisors agrees.

This week, a candidate for the Bedford County Board of Supervisors suggested that residents quit paying a $2 charge added to their phone bills to finance the setup of the E-911 system.

The candidate, Bob Crouch, said the county promised to lower the surcharge two years ago and that residents should refuse to pay it until they get some answers.

A 1991 resolution that imposed the fee in Bedford County stated that the surcharge could be lowered to a maintenance fee after the E-911 system is online.

But the system is not online yet - and isn't expected to be until next August.

Completion was set for last January.

Franklin County's system isn't completely online either, and county residents have been paying a $1 surcharge since July 1989.

The surcharge generates about $200,000 a year, most of which has been eaten up by problems with the project and by the salaries of five employees - four full-time and one part-time - working to complete the system, Webster said.

One of the biggest obstacles, according to Webster: A company that was hired by the county to install computer equipment went bankrupt a couple of years ago, leaving the county with an unfinished job and equipment that didn't work.

So, the Public Safety Department decided to take on the task itself- a decision that pushed the project's completion back by more than a year.

Webster addressed the county Board of Supervisors on Wednesday.

Unless a private company is brought in to assist the county, the E-911 system probably won't go online until 1997, he told the board.

As did Bedford County, Franklin County set a completion date for this year.

``Right now, we're robbing Peter to pay Paul. And I'll be up front with you, Peter don't have a whole lot of money left,'' Webster told board members.

The supervisors then passed a motion to solicit bids for the last leg of the project - the computerized addressing of county homes and other buildings.

The first phases of the plan included the computer setup and renaming county roads. A 911 phone number that doesn't use any new addresses has been operational for about two years, Webster said.

He said he believes it is possible to get the last phase of the project done in about four months.

When the computerized addressing is finished, the information will be given to the U.S. Postal Service, which will incorporate the new addresses.

Webster said he expects that the $1 surcharge will be reduced to an 85-cent maintenance fee upon completion of the system.

The 85-cent fee would be one of the lowest in the region.