911 Board Purchases Equipment Upgrade

The Effingham County 911 Board Thursday approved purchasing more than $1.1 million in equipment upgrades for the dispatching system.

The biggest ticket items are new dispatch radio consoles at a total cost of $1,024,653. Also acquired were an IP recorder for $64,609 and a time synch device to synch all of the 911 computers for $27,167.

The 911 Board also approved pairing a $620,000 loan from First National Bank of Dieterich with approximately $500,000 in cash reserves to pay for the equipment. The loaned funds were borrowed for five years at an annual interest rate of 1.49%.

Board members re-elected officers for the next term, including Nick Althoff as chairman, Mike DePoister as vice-chairman, and Mike Schutzbach as secretary-treasurer.

The 911 Board heard about a national grid system that will be put in place in the next few months that will help with navigating where emergency calls originate, and agreed to purchase seven computers, four for the city dispatching point and three for the county dispatching point. The total cost will be $7,600.