|
Post by 911wacker on Apr 4, 2006 18:14:29 GMT -5
McLinko can't stop Valley readdressing, says Lewis; New consultant paid for by wireless fees By LISA R. HOWELER Times Reporter TOWANDA - Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko may say he asked officials involved with the county's renumbering and readdressing project to halt the renumbering of the Valley, but McLinko can't stop a county process on his own, according to Commissioner Janet Lewis. Speaking about the controversy which has emerged concerning the readdressing of the boroughs within the Valley, McLinko said last week he had asked for the readdressing to be halted until the county hires a consultant to take over the operation of the project. Speaking to the Morning Times last week, Lewis said two commissioners would have had to ask for the project to be stopped, not one, and McLinko never spoke to her nor Commissioner Chairwoman Nancy Schrader about his wish to halt the project in the Valley. “It takes two commissioners to make a decision and decisions had already been made to move forward with this (the renumbering of at least five streets in Sayre Borough),” said Lewis. “Doug never came to us and said he was going to go talk to the mayors. We had no idea he was up there undermining the work of the 911 center. He was going off on his own and really making it difficult for this project to continue smoothly. He is stirring up emotions and is not doing anyone any favors. He has missed several meetings about this issue and if he had discussed some of this with us before he went up there. we could have told him about what was going on.” McLinko is away on business this week and unavailable for comment. Responding to a comment by Sayre Mayor Denny Thomas that the county is using tax dollars to pay for a consultant to complete the readdressing project, which it couldn't finish on its own, Lewis said the county is utilizing wireless, or cell phone, fees from the state. “The consultant is being paid for through wireless 911 fees that are collected from cell phones and is an acceptable expense because it is to be used for enhanced 911 response and this is enhanced 911 response,” said Lewis. The county is not hiring the consultant because it can't finish the project on its own, but because the county doesn't have the staff to complete the project in a timely manner, she added. The commissioners hope to hire the consultant as early as this Thursday and have the entire readdressing project complete within the next 12 months. The readdressing is aimed at making it easier for emergency responders to locate emergencies. [glow=red,2,300]Are we seeing a trend yet?[/glow]
|
|
|
Post by flamethrower on Apr 4, 2006 21:07:01 GMT -5
Smoke Screens, BullPooPoo and VERY large lack of communication.
|
|
|
Post by chief322 on Apr 5, 2006 4:13:24 GMT -5
Kim;
If I remember correctly, when Bradford became a 911 center and the project was started to switch to 911 and upgrade the radio systems for low-band in the center, wasn't this when "we" started receiving funds from phone bills (911 surcharge) for every phone number in the county?
Is this practice still continuing, or was this only during projects such as upgrades or continuous improvements to the center and its capabilities?
Also, if "we" are receiving project funds through hard wire and wireless phone bills, are these monies factored into the operating budget of the center overall or gathered into a special account just for such projects?
Lastly, to date, do you have any figures as to how much has been received in phone bill funding versus expense to the projects?
I am not asking you to go out on a limb here. I believe that all the projects thus far, although controversial, are much needed. Remember we went through basically the same thing when we switched band frequencies. PM me with your info. if needed.
Tim
|
|
|
Post by 911wacker on Apr 7, 2006 18:18:59 GMT -5
More depressing news from the paper on this one!
Sayre Borough: Readdressing halted
By WARREN HOWELER Times Managing Editor SAYRE - The Sayre Borough Council Thursday voted unanimously to rescind its 2002 ordinance regarding the borough's participation in Bradford County's E-911 program and also directed Council President Jim Daly to send a letter to the Central Pennsylvania District of the U.S. Postal Office asking them any address changes that have been proposed for Sayre Borough up to this point be rescinded.
Specifically, those address changes would focus on West Lockhart Street, Center, Franklin, Lewis and Lincoln streets. Those streets were targeted to be renumbered as part of the readdressing of Athens Township, as portions of those roadways travel through the township.
The rescinding of the 2002 ordinance also effectively ends Sayre Borough's participation in the county's E-911 program.
The action by the council was greeted by applause from the over 60 local residents who attended Thursday's meeting, which was held in the Patterson Auditorium on Guthrie's Sayre campus. Two commissioners - Janet Lewis and Nancy Schrader - the 911 coordinator Karin Niemeyer, the GIS coordinator Scott Molnar and a Bradford County Dispatcher were also in attendance at the meeting. Commissioner Doug McLinko was out of town on personal business planned months ago.
The motion to rescind the ordinance was made by Councilman John Stetz and seconded by Councilwoman Barbara Ault.
“Since the end of last year, we have been asking for a meeting with the county and every time we have had a meeting scheduled, it has been canceled,” said Ault. “So I believe that we have done our part to show our willingness to cooperate. If it takes rescinding the ordinance to get us out of this mess and start from scratch, I believe that is what we have to do.”
While this project has been going on for three or four years, no one from the county level has traveled to Sayre to meet with borough officials, said Borough Mayor Denny Thomas.
“Nobody has explained anything to us,” he said. “It is just ‘Here it is. We're going to do it, and that's it.'”
Thomas also mentioned the lack of involvement that the Bradford County Commissioners have had in this project.
“Where have the county commissioners been? Where has anybody from (county) 911 been? Where has anybody from the com center been?” he asked. “That's why we had to have this meeting tonight. A three to four year period this has been going on and we have not had anybody up here.”
This has been a debacle from the start, Thomas said.
“If we could have sat down and ironed out some of the issues that we had, we might not be here tonight,” he said.
Thomas then referred to a letter he received from local attorney Bob Landy, who had sent a correspondence to Commissioner Janet Lewis dated Jan. 23, 2006 asking for an answer he had regarding whether the readdressing was being done in response to a federal or state mandate.
“‘No, the readdressing project is not the result of a state or federal mandate, but rather it is being done as a result of a decision made by the county commissioners, based on a recommendation of the Bradford County 911 committee,'” Lewis responded within the letter read by Thomas.
“Later in the letter, Commissioner Lewis states, ‘Although there are no mandates for readdressing at this time, much of Pennsylvania is already headed in that direction, as several counties have already completed projects or are in the process as is Bradford County,'” Thomas read.
“If there were no mandates in January, from where did the mandates come from between January and now?” Landy further questioned in his letter. “The majority of the commissioners have tried to suggest and imply that there are mandates either from PEMA (the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Association) or from the U.S. Postal Service or from whatever, but the fact is there are no mandates.'”
Thomas also railed about the changing of addresses on those aforementioned streets in Sayre Borough, noting that there are only a couple of homes on those roadways that are located in Athens Township, but now all of the residences there need to be renumbered.
“I just don't understand the rhyme or reason to it,” Thomas said, “but then again, if you (the county) would had come and seen us, you would have known our concerns a long time ago.”
In addition, for the county to spend nearly $400,000 on a consultant to help with this project - regardless of where the money to pay for that consultant came from - “that money could have been put to other good use beside that,” said Thomas.
Daly said he was not in complete agreement with the action taken by the council, “because I feel that the action we took (back in February) to put our activities on hold was sufficient.”
That is because state law gives the borough “clear authority” over any renumbering that may occur within the municipality, Daly said.
“However, if that is the council's will, that is the way we will go,” he said.
Daly said he believes the renaming of duplicate street names under this 911 program has a “great deal of value for our communities, because there are instances where emergency services go to the wrong street and the wrong community.”
“It doesn't happen often, but it does happen and it shouldn't happen,” he said.
However, Daly said he is less convinced of the need to renumber homes within the borough.
“Now renumbering has already occurred on three streets in Sayre Borough - on Pennsylvania Avenue, on the former Third Street in Milltown and on Shepard Road, which needed to be redone because the numbering that was there was haphazard and out of sequence, and the post office has been complaining about it for years,” he said.
There has been a serious communication and coordination problem between the county, Sayre Borough and the other Valley communities, Daly said.
“And we need to fix it,” he said.
Daly also said he contacted officials from the Central Pennsylvania District of the U.S. Postal Office regarding the borough's options in relation to the renumbering.
“They informed me that since we (the council) are the authority for this community, our word is law to them,” he said. “In an answer to my specific question of ‘Can we stop or revoke what numbering has taken place within Sayre Borough?' they said, ‘Yes, certainly.' The only issue for them is it may take a few months before all the commercial services who do have these new address numbers update their databases.”
In the meantime, residents on those five streets are asked to continue using their old addresses, Daly said.
---
Warren Howeler can be reached at whoweler@morning-times.com
|
|
|
Post by flamethrower on Apr 8, 2006 11:35:06 GMT -5
There has been a serious communication and coordination problem between the county, Sayre Borough and the other Valley communities, Daly said.
DUH, ya think.
|
|
|
Post by canton1 on Apr 8, 2006 22:07:52 GMT -5
I wish some of the people involved could get over them selves and remember why we are here. SOme say they will work with others but---why are they not? ?
|
|
GVEMS30
Full Member
"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein
Posts: 75
|
Post by GVEMS30 on Apr 12, 2006 17:24:49 GMT -5
Let us not forget John Q. Public and quotes like: “I can’t change my address; it will cancel my homeowners insurance.” “The Ambulance knows where I live, they were here last month.” “I have had the same address for up-teen years, I ain’t changing it now.” “Who is going to pay for new checks, address labels, house numbers…ect…”
May seem silly, but the people who vote for boro council members and mayors ask these kind of questions.
|
|
|
Post by 911wacker on Sept 22, 2006 13:21:37 GMT -5
Athens Borough: Council begins process to formally rescind E-911 ordinance
By WARREN HOWELER Times Managing Editor Published: Monday, September 18, 2006 11:22 PM CDT E-mail this story | Print this page ATHENS BOROUGH - The Athens Borough Council Monday voted to advertise the rescinding of its 2002 ordinance regarding the borough's participation in Bradford County's E-911 program.
The council had voted back in February to rescind the ordinance, which effectively ends the borough's participation in the program.
However, the council still needed to advertise its rescinding of the ordinance and formally adopt it before it becomes official.
The action taken by the council back in February was in response to the possible renumbering of every home within Athens Borough.
And Monday's action also had to do with the issue of renumbering and the council's inability to get answers from Bradford County and MSAG Data Consultants regarding the impact of any possible renumbering within the borough.
MSAG Data Consultants is the consulting firm that Bradford County hired to complete its enhanced 911 project.
MSAG had submitted an addressing report to the borough council last month, but borough council members said they were “extremely disappointed” with that report.
The report contained three options that the borough could utilize regarding addressing - do nothing, fix the problems the firm found or readdress the entire municipality.
Councilman Ray Stackhouse said during Monday's meeting that the board cannot make a decision on fixing any addressing problems until they receive a detailed report from MSAG on how many residences within the borough would be impacted by such an action.
“They (MSAG) didn't seem to want to do a detailed report unless we give them a decision,” he said.
The council cannot make a decision based on the “small amount of information” that is contained within the addressing report, said Council President Maria Worden.
“There was nothing in this report,” she said. “They want us to decide so they can move ahead, but yet how can we decide when there is nothing there.”
“And you can't make a decision without knowing the impact,” said Stackhouse.
Worden said she would contact Bradford County Commissioner Nancy Schrader and County GIS Coordinator Scott Molnar about this issue as well as find out more information regarding the status of Pine and Elmira streets in the borough.
Borough residents who live on Pine and Elmira streets began receiving mail to a new address number earlier this year, but these addresses are unofficial and will not be made official until they are approved by the Athens Borough Council.
The new addresses are part of Bradford County's E-911 enhancement program. As those two streets are shared with Athens Township - which recently underwent renumbering - every house has been targeted for renumbering by the county.
However, Worden said she has sent Molnar two e-mails on this subject and has yet to hear a response from him.
During further discussion on this issue, Councilman Hal Smith inquired as to whether the council should formally rescind the ordinance dealing with the E-911 program.
Some council members did note that the board has already done that, but Stackhouse explained that the council has to advertise an ordinance to rescind that previous legislation and then formally adopt that ordinance.
“Sayre Borough has done that,” he said. “We have not done that.”
Council Vice President Paul Chacona inquired as to why that action had not taken place.
“We were asked to wait until we (received the addressing report) and the report is of no value,” said Worden.
“The information that Beverly (Bleiler, the borough's manager/secretary/treasurer) gave me (on addressing) four years ago was more complete this,” said Stackhouse.
“We were requested to wait until we got the information,” said Chacona. “We have not gotten the information. I see no reason not to fulfill what we recently voted on and advertise it and get it done with. I don't think we need to vote on it. We've already approved it.”
The next meeting of the Athens Borough Council will be held at 7 p.m. Oct. 16 at the borough hall on South River Street. The public is invited to attend.
---
|
|
|
Post by 911wacker on Sept 23, 2006 22:02:09 GMT -5
Bradford County: Commissioners weigh in on renumbering controversy
By WARREN HOWELER, Times Managing Editor Published: Friday, September 22, 2006 11:27 PM CDT
TOWANDA - Answering a question posed by the Morning Times during Thursday's meeting, the Bradford County Commissioners weighed in with their thoughts on the recent controversies surrounding two Valley municipalities and the county's enhanced 911 project.
Those two Valley municipalities are Sayre and Athens Borough, with the Athens Borough Council voting this week to advertise the rescinding of its 2002 ordinance regarding the borough's participation in Bradford County's E-911 program.
If this ordinance is formally approved next month, it will end the borough's participation in the program.
The reason behind this action by the Athens Borough Council is due to the controversy surrounding the possible renumbering of every home with that municipality.
The Sayre Borough Council has already withdrawn from the program, and cited the problems it was encountering with the possible borough-wide renumbering as its reason.
“I've been in contact with Athens Borough this week and basically - with the consensus of the commissioners - we've told them whatever they decide to do is what they decide to do,” Commissioner Chairwoman Nancy Schrader said Thursday. “We're giving them a list of the residents that will have duplicate addresses with Athens Township, especially on Pine Street and Elmira Street. We are letting them know how many that will entail and they will have to make a decision on that.”
Sovereignty of the local municipalities is very important, said Commissioner Doug McLinko.
“They're the ones who call the shots for their towns,” he said.
The communication between the county and the boroughs in the Valley regarding this project were “terrible from the beginning,” said McLinko.
“I can understand the way they feel because things were happening and they didn't have the answers,” he said. “When you're that close to the people, you're answering to your neighbors at the grocery store, your kid's ball game.”
The county is doing its best to improve the communications with the local municipalities on this project, said Schrader.
“But it is going to be their decision for what's best for their community,” said McLinko.
Improving the communication between the county and the local municipalities is one of the reasons why Bradford County brought MSAG Data Consultants on board as a consultant for this project, McLinko said.
“Now we're moving to other areas of the county and hopefully the project will continue,” said Schrader. “We've all learned lessons along the way.”
Bradford County did not undertake this project to create any hardships and cause any conflicts, said Commissioner Janet Lewis.
“We decided to undertake this project because we believe it is in the best interests of the residents of the county,” she said. “But we certainly aren't going to force it on anyone.
“I think a point in time will come when it will be necessary to renumber every home in the county,” Lewis continued. “Those who opt out of it (the project) at this time when the assistance is being offered will, sometime in the future I believe, will end up doing this anyway. We would have liked to have had a cooperative effort to proceed with a uniform numbering procedure all at the same time, but unfortunately that is not going to happen, which makes it all the more difficult.”
The project is now moving to the southwestern portion of the county and beginning the renumbering process in those townships located there, the commissioners said.
The townships located in the southwest corner of Bradford County include Litchfield Township, Windham Township and Warren Township.
“Boroughs and townships are two completely different things and I can understand why the boroughs would be confused, and again, a lot of it is communication to tell senior citizens what is going on,” said McLinko. “But there are a lot of townships that are kind of eager to have it (renumbering) done.”
When the county hires a new 911 coordinator to help with this project, McLinko said what he will expect of this person is “good communication skills.”
“When South Waverly Borough doesn't realize that they have been readdressed when they get notified in the mail instead of receiving a phone call or being kept up to (date) - that is unacceptable and I think that it is to all of us,” he said. “So with the new consultant, maybe we just have a new day and a new opportunity.”
---
|
|
911Mom
Full Member
Welcome to the real world!
Posts: 60
|
Post by 911Mom on Sept 24, 2006 8:51:17 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]OK, who moved the townships around Friday night? [/glow] Because everybody knows that if it says it in the paper it must be right!
|
|
|
Post by 911wacker on Sept 25, 2006 2:44:42 GMT -5
Because everybody knows that if it says it in the paper it must be right! The information posted here is pasted word for word from the newspaper site and is posted so that anyone who reads it can form thier own opinions. This is an important issue that many have been watching.
|
|
911Mom
Full Member
Welcome to the real world!
Posts: 60
|
Post by 911Mom on Sept 25, 2006 9:26:47 GMT -5
I'm not really sure what is meant by the previous post. Of course it was posted word for word from the paper, I read the article and in the online version sent them a message regarding the error in townships. I am merely pointing out the papers inablility to check their facts before they print things which is something we are all aware of in both the newspapers. So relax, it was not meant to cast aspersions on anyone who posts on these boards.
|
|
|
Post by 911wacker on Oct 18, 2006 12:22:25 GMT -5
Athens Borough: Addresses to revert on South Elmira, Pine streets; Council approve ordinance withdrawing from E-911 program
By WARREN HOWELER Times Managing Editor Published: Tuesday, October 17, 2006 11:42 PM CDT
ATHENS BOROUGH - Residents on South Elmira Street and Pine Street in Athens Borough can breathe a little easier now as they will not have to change their address numbers, according to Borough Council President Maria Worden.
Worden announced during this week's council meeting that she has spoken with Bradford County Commissioner Nancy Schrader and County GIS Coordinator Scott Molnar who informed her that the county has agreed to revert the addresses on those two roadways back to their original designations.
The new addresses were submitted as part of Bradford County's E-911 enhancement program. As those two streets are shared with Athens Township - which recently underwent renumbering - every house on those roadways had been targeted for renumbering by the county.
Residents on those roadways were asked by borough officials to ignore any new addresses that they may have received in the mail earlier this year as those new addresses were not approved by the Athens Borough Council.
The borough has also sent a letter to the USPS asking that the postal service change the address numbers for homes on Pine and South Elmira Street back to their original designation, said Worden.
“So I think we're on the right direction with that,” she said.
Also during this week's meeting, council members voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance which rescinds the borough's 2002 ordinance regarding the municipality's participation in Bradford County's E-911 program.
The council had voted back in February to rescind the ordinance, which effectively ends the borough's participation in the program.
However, the council still needed to advertise its rescinding of the ordinance and formally adopt it before it becomes official.
The action taken by the council back in February was in response to the possible renumbering of every home within Athens Borough.
The council will also need to adopt an additional ordinance in order to change any street names that are duplicated in other neighboring municipalities, said Worden.
The renaming of duplicate or similar-sounding street names is included within the 2002 ordinance that was rescinded this week, she added.
Council members did discuss whether they could rescind only the portion of the 2002 ordinance specifically dealing with the readdressing of homes, but were informed that they would have to rescind the entire ordinance to avoid any other issues regarding address changes within the borough.
The next meeting of the Athens Borough Council will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 20 at the borough hall on South River Street. The public is invited to attend.
------------
|
|
|
Post by 911wacker on Nov 15, 2006 19:32:54 GMT -5
Sayre Borough: Daly dispells rumors surrounding county's 911 service
By WARREN HOWELER Times Managing Editor Published: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 11:26 PM CST SAYRE - Sayre Borough Council President Jim Daly issued a statement Monday dispelling several rumors that are floating around the municipality concerning the county's 911 services.
“The Sayre Borough Council recently learned of a serious rumor circulating throughout our community concerning Bradford County's 911 services,” Daly said. “Like most rumors, it exists in several forms, but the basic themes are the Borough of Sayre withdrew from participation in the County's 911 services, or that the County stopped providing 911 services to the Borough of Sayre. Both rumors have as their beginning the Council's decision to withdraw from the Bradford County Enhanced 911 addressing program.”
Bradford County's 911 Agency continues to provide 911 services to the Borough of Sayre's residents and visitors twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, said Daly.
“County 911 dispatchers are committed to providing prompt and professional emergency communications to the entire county,” he said. “At no time were 911 services unavailable to Sayre residents, businesses and visitors.”
In 2001, the county commissioners initiated a program to upgrade the 911 system from the “basic” level of services to “enhanced 911” services, Daly said.
“Supporting this upgrade is county's addressing project,” he said. “The purpose of this project is to establish standards for naming roadways, posting street signs and assigning numbers to all dwelling, principal buildings, businesses and industries; and to assist emergency service agencies, the United States Postal Service and the public in the timely and efficient provision of services to residents and businesses of Bradford County. The ultimate objective of this program is to develop a county wide uniform addressing system to support implementation of enhanced 911 emergency communications system.'
The Sayre Borough Council had approved the borough's participation with passage of Ordinance 812 in April 2002, said Daly.
“Initial discussions with the county's planners during 2002-2003 resulted in the borough's understanding that we would retain the existing house number system,” he said. “Unfortunately, at some point in time, a decision was made to impose an artificial addressing system onto the Borough of Sayre without notification to or approval of the council.”
Changes to addresses in Sayre were distributed earlier this year to residents of Center, Franklin, Lewis, Lincoln, and Lockhart streets, Daly noted.
“The council's only recourse to halt this process was to withdraw from the program to preserve our sovereignty over our community and to formally take action to restore the original addresses by passage of ordinance 844 in October 2006,” he said.
“Once again, we assure the citizens, businesses and visitors that Sayre Borough continues to be supported by the Bradford County 911,” Daly added.
Residents who have any questions regarding this issue are encouraged to contact Daly at 888-7739 or 888-9700.
---
Warren Howeler can be reached at whoweler@morning-times.com
|
|
|
Post by 911wacker on Dec 20, 2006 5:54:10 GMT -5
Sayre Borough: Readdressing leads to voting snafu; West Lockhart Street residents can now vote in Athens Township
By WARREN HOWELER Times Managing Editor
SAYRE - The recent attempt to readdress the entirety of West Lockhart Street, which travels from Athens Township through Sayre Borough, has resulted in some borough residents receiving notices that they are now eligible to vote in Athens Township.
The readdressing of the Sayre Borough portion of West Lockhart came to a halt earlier this year when the borough council adopted an ordinance that called for the address numbers on homes on that roadway to revert to their original designation.
Bradford County Elections Bureau Director Marie Zbyszinski did confirm Monday that borough residents on West Lockhart Street have received notices that they are now to vote in Athens Township.
This issue has only affected those borough residents who reside on West Lockhart Street, said Zbyszinski.
“This happened because originally they (West Lockhart Street residents) had original addresses from day one they were in the system and in their proper precincts,” she said. “Then the 911 address change came. Some people let us know (that their address had changed), some we got from planning, but with the statewide voter registration system, when we input (those address changes), there are specific block ranges to assign a precinct.”
Because West Lockhart Street involves a couple of different voting precincts, one number change can throw a residence into another block range, said Zbyszinski.
“Then automatically (the state system) assigns them to another precinct, even though they didn't really move and they should not be in that precinct,” she said.
Zbyszinski said elections officials didn't know if some of the address changes that came through their office resulted from the 911 readdressing or from a resident moving to a new address.
“Once this was brought to our attention a couple of weeks ago, we have contacted state registry system and told them that we need to correct this in our system,” she said. “We have made copies of - and downloaded a list of - all the voters in that area on Lockhart Street. In fact, we just set up a meeting with Sayre Borough to go out and meet with them at the end of this week to actually distinguish the addresses so that we can set up our system, send out a letter to all the voters and put them back in their correct precinct.”
Election bureau officials want to make sure that every voter is listed within their proper voting precinct before next year's primary election, said Zbyszinski.
“I can't promise (this will be corrected) by the end of the year because it depends how many we are going to have to change,” she said. “If there are a few hundred, it might take us a couple of weeks to get them all inputted and all corrected. But I would say no later than mid- to late-January.”
The elections bureau will send a letter out to voters informing them when this problem has been corrected, along with a new voter registration card, Zbyszinski added.
---
[glow=red,2,300]The Headaches continue!![/glow]
|
|