Published: January 08, 2009 11:45 am      

Commissioners table GIS grant proposal

Officials say they need more time to consider emergency GPS tracking system

Commissioners table GIS grant proposal

CHATTER: Need more time to consider emergency GPS tracking system

By KEVIN SMITH

Pharos-Tribune staff writer

The Cass County commissioners have delayed accepting a grant to fund the transfer of county information for the statewide online, interactive GIS map.

Commissioners decided at Monday’s meeting to table the proposal because they still need confirmation in writing from the state that the Department of Homeland Security will apportion the $15,000 grant.

“We’re not going to go out and spend money before we’ve got it,” commissioner Dave Arnold said. “Until the state has it in writing and actually accepts it, then we are going to wait.”

When secured, the county will use the grant money to pay WTH, the mapping company employed by the county to compile and transfer information from the county to the statewide online map.

The county has a $5,000 basic contract with WTH, with the remainder of the money to be used on a GPS tracking system for county emergency vehicles.

The GPS system will send a signal from a vehicle to a computer screen in the combined dispatch center.

In an event such as last month’s ice storm when radio communication was down, the tracking system could be used by dispatchers to identify vehicles that have not moved during given period of time.

The system will also enable dispatchers to call in support from nearby emergency vehicles, which Arnold said would be useful for small townships.

At Monday’s meeting, Alvin Beckman, the director of the Cass County Emergency Management Agency, said the plan was to install the auto vehicle locator system in Cass County Sheriff’s Department patrol cars and county ambulance service vehicles.

He added that he didn’t see a need for fire department vehicles at this time, but hoped that the system could also be used by city police.

Arnold said he felt the county should take some time to consider which departments were in most need of the tracking system before making the investment.

“We haven’t figured out which way we’ll go,” Arnold said. “It is a safety issue and we have not decided which group to put it on as of yet. ... We all need to do our homework to find out which area will be the best.”

Arnold said the commissioners were considering using the system for the highway department after problems they experienced during the ice storm when a truck slid off the road and rolled on its side. He added that the system could also be used on school buses.

“We wanted to know with the accident with the highway truck why we could not incorporate that into the grant, too,” Arnold said. “With the sheriff’s deparment we know where we send them. But county trucks that were in townships that didn’t have the radio because the radio tower’s power was down. We had no way of knowing where they were.”

Arnold said he should receive the answers to his questions about the device and state’s position on the grant yet this week.

“We should be able to press ahead at the next meeting,” he said.

Kevin Smith can be contacted at (574) 732-5148 or via e-mail at kevin.smith@pharostribune.com