By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Emergency management staff for the city of Hays and Ellis County are looking at a different solution to the current backup plan for when the countywide emergency dispatch system goes down, which happened earlier this month.
The Aug. 2 accidental activation of a fire suppression sprinkler head in the Ellis County emergency communications center by a contractor soldering on the HVAC system caused more than $80,000 in water damage to computer and phone equipment.
"The county IT staff, the city of Hays IT staff and law enforcement center staff were very quick to respond" to the incident in the law enforcement center, according to Toby Dougherty, city manager.
The backup 911 dispatch center was set up temporarily in the Hays Fire Department for about a week.
"There were some calls transferred to the Pratt Communications Center, which is a combined communications center," Dougherty told Hays city commissioners Thursday night, "but very few calls were actually overflowed. We were able to set this up so they could get back online.
"Kudos to everybody involved. They did a great job getting everything back online."
Although the temporary fix "worked beautifully," Mayor Sandy Jacobs also said she's concerned the city doesn't have an immediate backup if the 911 system goes down.
The backup contingency plan worked, Dougherty said, which involves utilizing computer terminals in the fire department set up by the communications officers and also transferring calls to Pratt as needed.
"From the user end ā for the people who actually utilized the 911 services ā I think it was fairly seamless. ... [But] what we have is not optimal. There were some things that we couldn't do, mostly in the computer-aided dispatch realm."
A plan was included for a permanent secondary emergency communications center in the basement of the Ellis County Rural Fire and Emergency Medical Services building when it was constructed a few years ago at 1105 E. 22nd in Hays.
"They're looking at the possibility of investing some money in that. It is a little bit disruptive for the fire department when they're set up and doing the dispatch there," Dougherty said. Fire Chief Ryan Hagans, who was in the audience, nodded his head in agreement.
The dispatch equipment in the basement of the LEC is extremely expensive, according to Dougherty.
"Sometimes when it's that expensive it's hard to duplicate for the redundancy, especially as quickly as you roll through the technology in that stuff. It becomes obsolete. It's extremely difficult," he said.
Discussions are underway between Hays and Ellis County emergency management teams about how much money is necessary to invest in a permanent secondary 911 communications system.
In other business, commissioners approved low bids for:
ā¢ Purchase of a new $166,220 biosolids handling truck from Summit Truck Goup, Salina, for the Water Reclamation and Reuse Facility
ā¢ Purchase of a customized solid waste baler and conveyer for $95,000 from TAKNEK LLC, Gainesville, Texas, used to bale cardboard and paper recycling
ā¢ Architechtural design services with Krayill Associates, Wichita, for $316,450 to design a second fire station
Commissioners also voted to sign a deed transferring title of a portion of north Vine Street frontage road excess right of way to the adjacent property owner, Russell J. Pfannenstiel Trust, and reserving a public utility easement at 3701 Vine ā the Phillips 66 station ā in connection with the current roundabout construction.