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WV'S E-911 ADDRESSING PLAGUED WITH PROBLEMS |
| (11/25/2006) |
| Fraught with default, mismanagement and provider bankruptcy, the completion of E-911 Addressing and Mapping in WV continues to get re-invented by the state. After the state took-over addressing and mapping, using $15 million from Verizon, counties are left holding the bag. West Virginia expended $10 million dollars with an out-of-state contractor. It now appears that rural counties like Calhoun will get a few thousand dollars from what is left in a $5 million dollar fund. Calhoun, in an effort to get ahead with mapping and addressing, contracted with McKenzie Engineering, a company that also went bankrupt after taking money from several West Virginia counties. The state's Addressing and Mapping Board is trying to stay in operation a little longer, as county officials call for its elimination and the state Legislative Auditor's Office is conducting an investigation into alleged mismanagement. The board was created four years ago to help map and address the rural parts of West Virginia in hopes of improving 911 service across the state. This summer the mapping board turned the project back over to counties to complete. Now, 911 centers and emergency service agencies are faced with the task of scouting their counties, confirming addresses and assigning new addresses to old and outdated route or box numbers, which are of little use to paramedics, firefighters and police in emergencies. The state fired a Vermont-based contractor that was supposed to help identify and rename roads across the state. Counties are strapped for cash to complete the labor-intensive project. The Legislative Auditor's Office says "We're auditing (the board) like we'd audit anything else." The mapping board has decided to hold back about $3 million of the remaining project funds, while dividing the other $2.8 million between all the counties to help finish the project. Calhoun could get less than $20,000 for the project, not nearly enough, requiring the county to subsidize it. Kanawha County officials have already voted to direct at least $150,000 of county funds toward finishing its part of the project, saying it is not nearly enough. The state's mapping board is wanting to hire their own lobbyist to promote their cause with the leftover money, and extend their operation for two more years. The board is set to be shut-down by law. In a letter sent to James Spears, secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper criticized the board's move to hire a lobbyist, and pushed for the board to be dissolved as soon as possible. "This board's track record is barely lackluster," Carper said. "This is nothing less than an outrage."
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