“When I saw discussion of JECOB on the agenda I thought you were going to disband it,” said Lewisburg Chief of Police and board member Alan Alsup.
Magistrate Thomas Bouldin assured Alsup and other board members who attended that wasn't the objective.
“We just wanted to open it up for discussion because some of us new magistrates really don't know what the board does,” said Bouldin.
Judge/Executive Logan Chick said the board was discussed at a previous court meeting by jailer Bill Jenkins who made comments that during a recent storm he felt there seemed to be a lot of chaos on the radios receivers.
JECOB acts as an advisory of the Emergency Communications Center (ECC/911) to the Fiscal Court. The nine-member board handles operation problems that may arise day-to-day. They are also in charge of recommending the director, but the final say goes to the court.
During the discussion, it was mentioned why the county did not do away with the board and just handle it themselves considering it contributes the majority of the Emergency Communications Center budget.
Board member Alsup quickly took the floor telling the magistrates that they didn't want that responsibility.
“You don't want to be involved in the day-to-day operations involved with that center,” said Alsup. “It is extremely out of date and there are problems that arise daily. We are not here to tell the court what to do. You have the final say. We are just here to help advise you.”
Alsup said JECOB was organized when the county first took over 911. He said when the city of Russellville ran the service they didn't let anyone have a say.
“If you didn't like something than you didn't like it the next day,” Alsup said. “They had the total say and there was no input for anyone. That's why the concept of JECOB came about.”
JECOB is made up the four city's chief's of police, the sheriff, a fire department and ambulance representative and a member at large. The board is strictly voluntary and they make no money.
In attendance at Tuesday's court meeting were Lewisburg Mayor Ken Whitson and Adairville Mayor Jim Wilkerson.
Both mayors felt there was a need for JECOB and said the cities were finally becoming unified and feeling like a part of the county.
“This board has a purpose,” said Wilkerson.
Whitson said the smaller cities put money in the 911 budget as well and they deserve to be represented.
Discussion about the amount of traffic on the ECC turned into an eye-opening realization that the 911 system was in bad shape and in desperate need of an upgrade which according to director Toombs could be as much as $5 million.
After magistrates regained their composure after hearing the steep price questions began about what they would do. Magistrate Harold Prince said, “Might as well throw the radios in the river because that's not going to happen.”
Prince did say he thought the ECC was a necessity in the county.
Alsup said if it were someone's family laying on the ground with a heart attack or someone's daughter being beat up it takes on a whole new meaning.
Magistrate Kerry Kenady said he hoped the upgrades could be broken into several pieces and done over years.
Alsup and Toombs both informed the court that by 2011 the state mandated that all emergency communications centers be digital whereas Logan County is currently an analog system.
“The problems we are having are due to no maintenance being done on the system over the years. You have to do maintenance as you go along or you will end up in the shape we are,” said ECC director Judy Toombs, who has worked for the ECC for years but only recently began serving as director.
Magistrates said they were unaware of the upgrade issues until recently and wanted to know who was responsible for telling the court. Toombs said it is the director.
“I think we have learned a lot today,” said judge Chick who told the magistrates they needed to be looking into the future and where the money might come from to complete necessary upgrades to the system. “I do believe in unity and if we are going to look for grants or money to pay for this we will have more of a chance if we are unified,” said Chick.
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