Voices Blogs Beacon Backroom St. Louis County Council approves first contract tied to E-911 | St. Louis County Council approves first contract tied to E-911 |
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| By Jo Mannies, Beacon Political Reporter | |
| Posted 11:54 pm Tue., 02.16.10 | |
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A final vote is expected next week, but approval is virtually guaranteed since Tuesday's council decision was unanimous. The contract is the first in what is expected to be a string of contracts in the coming months tied to the implementation of E-911, the new countywide emergency communications network funded by the sales tax hike approved last November. County Chief Operating Officer Garry Earls said after Tuesday's meeting that RCC already has similar contracts with St. Charles and Jefferson counties. The result, said Earls, should be a regionwide system of coordinated emergency communications, which eventually would serve about 40 percent of Missouri's population. Outstate emergency agencies are hoping to use the expanded St. Louis area system when they are in range, he said, especially since budget cuts have prompted Missouri to slash spending on a statewide emergency communications setup that was primarily aimed at upgrading rural communications. Earls said the region's communications improvements will bring the suburbs up to par with St. Louis, which acted several years ago to overhaul its system. St. Louis County voters overwhelmingly approved the E-911 sales tax hike last November. As of Jan. 1, the hike increased the county's sales tax by one-tenth of a cent, to raise an estimated $16 million a year to pay for the improvements in communications mandated by the federal government to be in place by Jan. 1, 2013. Earls said Tuesday that the county soon will be hiring an executive director and program manager to oversee the e-911 system's setup and operations. |
The St. Louis County Council voted Tuesday night to OK a $2.2 million contract with RCC Consultants, Inc., which is to handle project management, consulting and engineering services in connection with the county's move to | < Newer post | Older post > |
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North 14th Street reopens
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To see a larger version and read the story, click here .
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