Fiscal Court Votes To Allocate $130K From ARPA To Update Dispatch Equipment

Edmonson County 911 Dispatch Director Robin Rigdon speaks to the fiscal court about needed upgrades to the dispatch center.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
The Edmonson County Fiscal Court voted to allocate up to $130,000 to the Edmonson County Dispatch Center for upgrades to their main equipment console--the hub of their communication center.

The request for the funding was made in-person by Edmonson County 911 Dispatch Director Robin Rigdon, who described the current outdated setup.

She said that because of limited space, a dispatcher cannot monitor all of the departments for potential emergencies, including law enforcement, fire, medical, the road department, and local schools. She said the dispatch center does not always have multiple dispatchers working and one person cannot properly monitor all the communication lines without moving to another room or a location away from the main console. She said this presents a risk because not all can be monitored at the same time.

She said that an upgraded console would allow all systems to be monitored all at once, by one person. She added that while the annual maintenance costs for this equipment would be around $18K per year, the dispatch center would be able to cover those costs.

Judge Wil Cannon spoke in favor of the upgrades and asked the court for a motion and second. The vote was approved unanimously. Cannon had previously allotted $100K in ARPA funds for dispatch center upgrades in the plan he first recommended in February of this year. Director Rigdon said that the estimated costs for the equipment are $120K with approximately $10K in additional costs upon installation; however, she also said that should the costs be less, the dispatch center would only request the exact dollar amount spent.

Several county offices gave reports, in addition to Edmonson County Schools Transportation Director Lannie Deweese. He thanked the county road department for their help on the several bus turnaround locations throughout the county. However, he did clarify an issue of adding new turnarounds. He said that due to a bus driver shortage, the school system has been forced to change some of the bus routes, and while some parents aren't happy, the school system has no choice. He asked the road department that in the event someone requests work to a turnaround that is not currently in the school bus route system to deny the request. Deweese said the schools are doing the best they can with the current driver shortage they currently face.

Magistrates also voted on the first reading of a resolution that would renew the 5-year Solid Waste Management Plan with the state. The new agreement would run from 2023 through 2027. This plan requires one single trash collector for the entire county in order to better track the amount serviced. A public hearing was scheduled right before the October 24th fiscal court meeting at 8:45AM. 

The court also voted to:

• Approve to pay $1930 towards HVAC relocation at Health Department.
• Approve Resolution EC22-23, Affirmative Action Plan, CDBG Lincoln Project.
• Approve Resolution EC22-24, Procurement Standards, CDBG Lincoln Project.
• Approve Resolution EC22-25, Cost Overruns, CDBG Lincoln Projects.
• Approve Resolution EC22-26, Kentucky Deferred Compensation.
• Approve Edmonson County Public Library 2022 Tax Rates.
• Approve to run Help Wanted Advertisement for Road Department.
• Approve Edmonson County Extension District 2022 Tax Rates.
• Approve Edmonson County Board of Health 2022 Tax Rate.
• Approve Resolution EC22-27, County Road Adoption of JR Prather Road-gravel portion in the length of .423 miles, bringing total to .894 miles.
  
• Approve to purchase 2017 Ford Explorer for Jail in the amount of $16,000.