Feature ArticleNovember 28, 2001
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Central Frontenac honours their 911 committeeby David BrisonThe Central Frontenac Council held a dinner and dance on November 23 to honour the volunteers who have worked since 1998 to build a 911 emergency response system. The project, chaired by Marcel Giroux of Sharbot Lake, is a joint project with North Frontenac. The work began shortly after amalgamation in 1998, at the same time that the ice storm hit. Marcel, who had done preliminary work on the project in 1997, drafted by-laws, which were passed by both townships. These by-laws established the legal framework for the project.
Following
Friday nights dinner, Marcel Giroux described what the volunteer
committee had accomplished. 911 is an emergency response system for
fire departments, the police, and ambulances. Volunteers from each of
the districts in both municipalities had to travel all of the roads in
the townships in a van that located each property through a satellite
imaging system. This
information was then used to construct maps with the precise location
of each property in the townships.
The information can be sent digitally to computers located in
emergency response vehicles. When
someone needing emergency help makes a phone call, the emergency
response team knows immediately where they are located, what the
reported problem is, and how to reach the location.
The next step, and it was a complicated one, was to name all of the roads and private lanes in the region. Road signs and property signs were then ordered and are now installed.
In the combined townships, there are:
400 private lanes (all had to be identified and named)
200 public roads (they also had to be named)
40-45% of residents in the townships living on private lanes
1162 km. of roads and lanes
7282 properties (all needing number signs)
744 road intersections (needing road signs)
The cost of buying signs, installing them, and consulting on the GPS systems used to construct the system was $400,000. If contractors had to do the work that the volunteers did, the project would have cost township taxpayers an additional $350,000.
The volunteer committee has now finished their work and presented the data to Bell Telephone. Bell Telephone has estimated that the system will be in effect by the 4th quarter (October to December) of 2002.
In the meantime, the numbered locations can be conveyed verbally to emergency crews, and maps can be used to find locations. A real bonus is that those of us who live in obscure locations can now easily direct friends and relatives to our homes.
Each of the seven districts in the townships had two designated committee members, who were assisted by countless volunteers. The committee members are:
Central Frontenac
Oso Gord Whan, Luc Salvador
Hinchinbrooke Lloyd Lee, David Hansen
Kennebec Marsden Kirk, Jack Nicolson
Olden Dave Willis, Faye Putnam
North Frontenac
District 1 Bill Rowsome, Dick Hook
District 2 David and Nancy Smith
District 3 Colonel and Annette St. Pierre
Central Frontenac Mayor Bill MacDonald thanked all the volunteers and commented on the tremendous value of the system to the township. He noted that some surrounding municipalities dont have 911, and that it is an attractive selling feature for our townships.
After
the dinner, music was provided by a small group led by Kingston
musician Paul Chabot. Several
couples took to the floor, and the dancing was magnificent.
