New 911 system planned for this summer

Dorothy Kegley

The Forest County Board of Supervisors met Feb. 20 for their regular meeting and were informed that the Forest County Sheriff Department 911 system, installed in 2004, will soon be outdated. Frontier Telephone Company plans to upgrade the system by July of this year, according to Josh Bradley, James Whiteaker, and Dennis Theune from the Forest County Sheriff’s Department. They also said the telephone update will not be able to read the language of the outdated system.

People will still be able to call 911, but the department will not be able to pinpoint their emergency calls. The department found out about this upgrade last month, leaving the county to come up with the funds outside of the Sheriff’s Department budget. The cost of the update is estimated to be between $130,000 and $200,000. Bradley said they would bring details on the cost estimates to the finance committee and county board when they have a firmer cost in place.

For the full story, see this week’s issue of The Forest Republican.