Misdirected

At their regular meeting on Wednesday, July 5, Eddy County commissioners heard from Road Superintendent Todd Weber and Emergency Manager Lisa Thompson about a problem with 9-1-1 signage in the county.

Thompson said the issue was discovered when Weber noticed a 9-1-1 sign on 20th Street NE – the road leading to the Golf Course and St. Johns Cemetery – which inaccurately read 30th Avenue.

“We started doing some digging trying to figure out how that sign was so far off, and how many others we have that could be a mess,” said Thompson. “After it all kind of came together, we believe that when they were doing road work along [Hwy. 281] they took signs down and put them up in the wrong spots.”

The “9-1-1 signs” referred to by the commission are the street signs seen at rural intersections. They’re required to be there in order to help emergency response personnel respond to an emergency quickly and accurately.

Weber said he took down the sign on 20th Street, but hadn’t yet located the intersection’s correct sign and was unsure how many might be misplaced.

Commissioners discussed having someone inventory signage in the county to determine which signs are incorrect or unreadable. Weber suggested that much of the signage is due for replacement anyways, with multiple signs being impossible to read.

“The 9-1-1 addresses are in such bad shape,” said Weber, “The south-facing ones have lived their life.”

Commissioners agreed that something needs to be done, and also agreed to pay someone to drive around Eddy County and take a thorough inventory of the county’s 9-1-1 signage.

“Like Todd said to me the other day, ‘boy if we’d had something happen and we needed an intercept with the ambulance from Carrington or something, and if they’re using signs, we’d have been in a hurt,’” recalled Thompson.

Commissioners did not determine who’s responsible for paying for the new signs and installing them – whether it’s the responsibility of the county or townships – but State’s Attorney Ashley Lies said she would look into it.

Meanwhile, Thompson also told commissioners about the snow removal reimbursements received by the county and townships.

Back in January, Eddy County Commissioners signed a snow emergency declaration, making them eligible for reimbursement for excess snow removal costs following the historic snowfall totals experienced this past winter.

All together, the townships within Eddy County, as well as the county itself, were reimbursed $94,262.06 for snow removal.

Of that, Eddy County will receive just over $60,000 directly, and the township that saw the most reimbursement was Pleasant Prairie, receiving a total of $9,624.75.

Other townships received the following reimbursement for snow removal:

• Bush: $1,433.25

• Cherry Lake: $252.00

• Columbia: $1,459.88

• Colvin: $3,018.75

• Eddy: $79.50

• Freeborn: $336.00

• Gates: $901.30

• Grandfield: $835.50

• Hillsdale: $1,273.50

• Lake Washington: $675.75

• Munster: $2,046.75

• New Rockford: $3,455.25

• Paradise: $3,162.38

• Rosefield: $1,168.13

• Sheldon: $1,420.50

• Superior: $2,499.00

• Tiffany: $509.25

Before adjourning, commissioners also carried a motion to approve a new phone system to be installed at the courthouse.

The old system stopped working after an apparent lightning strike hit the courthouse during a thunderstorm on June 8. A temporary fix to the system was made, but it was determined that a new system was necessary, as the old one – installed in 2002 – was too old to be fully repaired.

The new system has been quoted to cost just shy of $11,000, and Eddy County Auditor Patty Williams said she expects most, if not all, of that cost to be covered by insurance.

Williams said the new system will have new features such as caller identification, the ability to transfer calls to a cell phone, and the option to send voicemail messages to an email.

The next county commission meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 1 in the Eddy County Courthouse at 8:30 a.m.