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RURAL COUNTY RESIDENTS TO GET NEW ADDRESSES
Part 3 – What is Enhanced 911?
As previously discussed, Clearwater County has begun a Rural Re-Addressing Project. The ultimate goal of the project is to have a uniform rural addressing system. Once completed the next step will be the installation of an Enhanced 911 system in the Sheriff’s Office.
Enhanced 911 or E911 is similar to Caller ID, but with more features. Regular Caller ID provides the caller’s name and phone number. E911 links a physical address to the calling party’s phone number. It then provides the emergency responders with the location of the emergency without the person calling 911 having to provide it. It also keeps numbers from being blocked, even if they are unlisted. Having the calling party’s location instantly displayed on each 911 call allows the dispatcher to immediately confirm the location of the incident. The sooner the dispatchers can confirm a location, the sooner emergency response personnel can be on the scene.
The County has been collecting house and driveway points by use of a GPS (global positioning system). The points were placed in a GIS (geographic information system) basemap, with each of the records being linked to a database. The Enhanced 911 system depends on the accuracy of the information contained in the GIS basemap. The basemap will contain things such as roads, addressed structures, emergency service zones, fire district boundaries, city limits and zip code areas. Building a basemap requires collecting all the necessary data of existing roads and structures, which is near completion. The data must then be analyzed to reconcile any discrepancies. Eventually this data can be shared with other County departments eliminating conflicting address records and the time and expense in maintaining separate databases in every department.
In order to ensure the accuracy of the data that has been collected it is important that all rural County residents affected by changes in addressing attend one of the public meetings in their area. Letters will be sent out notifying every one of the dates and times of those meetings. In addition to the letters, information is available on the County’s website: www.clearwatercounty.org.
For further information about the program see Rural Addressing
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