Quincy Reporter

City of Quincy & Adams County 9-1-1 Joint Emergency Telephone System Board met April 20.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

5 members present: Joint ETSB Chairman Mike Farha, Adams County Board Member Barb Fletcher, Quincy Alderman Jeff Bergman, Quincy Police Chief Rob Copley, Adams County EMS Chief John Simon

4 members absent: Quincy Alderman Ben Uzelac, Adams County Rural Fire Association Representative Tom Bentley, Adams County Public Member Duane Venvertloh, PSAP Representative Brian Vonderhaar

Also present: 911 Director Jessica Douglas

Quorum Call. Chairman Mike Farha called the meeting to order and indicated a quorum was present.

Rob Copley made a motion to approve the minutes of the April 6, 2022 special Joint ETSB meeting and Barb Fletcher seconded the motion. The motion carried and the minutes were approved as distributed with no changes.

204 Fund Balance. Director Douglas reported an Emergency Telephone System Fund (Illinois 911 surcharge) balance of $1,919,863.90 as of April 19, 2022.

Director Douglas informed the members of the board that she had learned of a $5 million sweep of surcharge funding included in the recent budget bill (HB4700), moving funds from 911 surcharge to the 988 fund. It was reported by the Statewide 911 Administrator that the statewide impact of the sweep is unclear at this time.

Director Douglas stated that Illinois NENA and Illinois APCO jointly composed a letter to send to the Governor’s office requesting that the payment be delayed and calling for amended language to be introduced to replace the current language in the bill. A copy of this letter was distributed to all ETSB members.

Jeff Bergman made a motion to send this information to the Quincy City Council and Adams County Board and to urge those bodies to reach out to legislators. Rob Copley seconded the motion. The motion carried. Director Douglas will forward this information to both the Quincy City Council and Adams County Board for consideration.

Personnel Report. Director Douglas stated that the center was currently staffed with 13 dispatchers: 9 qualified, 4 in training. She noted that there are currently 3 dispatcher vacancies and 1 dispatch supervisor vacancy.

Director Douglas stated that her intent is to hire 1-2 new dispatchers in the May/June timeframe, noting that this timeline may be altered due to the limited capacity to train.

Next Generation 911(NG911). Director Douglas provided an update on the statewide NG911 project. PSAPs will begin transitioning to the ESInet in June. She noted that Quincy/Adams County 911 is not among the first 30 PSAPs that will be making the transition.

Director Douglas stated that the GIS portion of the NG911 project continues to progress well, and that GIS data submitted to the state portal is passing the state’s error rate requirement.

Old Business. Director Douglas informed the board that the union approved the 2022-2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement on April 18, 2022.

New Business. Director Douglas informed the board that both Motorola and Wireless USA have been engaged to resolve various issues noted with the radio system, primarily with Quincy Police and Adams County Sheriff frequencies, over the past several months.

Rob Copley stated that the most predominant complaint from Quincy Police officers is the inability to be heard on their portable radios.

John Simon stated that this could be contributed to increased ambient noise levels, as documented following testing by Wireless USA, around the simulcast sites interfering with low power transmissions getting into the system.

Director Douglas stated that the primary goal is to work with Motorola and Wireless USA to optimize the system. She stated that once the system is optimized, further discussions about adding an additional site to improve coverage in the southwest portion of the county and upgrading the system to Project 25 (P25) will take place.

Director Douglas informed the board that both the backup and primary HVAC units at the courthouse backup center failed in late March/early April. She stated that repairs are currently underway.

Director Douglas also informed the board that she had received a notification from Brian Vonderhaar earlier in the day informing her of his resignation from the Joint ETSB effective immediately.

Chairman Farha congratulated Rob Copley on his upcoming retirement from his position as Quincy Police Chief and thanked him for service.

Meeting Adjournment. Jeff Bergman made a motion to adjourn the meeting. John Simon seconded the motion. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned.

Next Meeting. The next quarterly meeting of the Joint ETSB is scheduled for Wednesday, October 19, 2022, at 5:15 p.m.

https://www.co.adams.il.us/home/showpublisheddocument/7320/637940043626030000