Knox Commissioners Waiting On Decision From Edina City Council For E-911 Services

By Echo Menges

According to Knox County Presiding Commissioner Evan Glasgow the county is waiting for the City of Edina to make a decision about whether they will participate in the Enhanced 911 program coming to Knox County.
“We had a meeting on Wednesday (November 28, 2012) with the city and I believe they are on board. They are going to have their next meeting on the 10th and decide what they’re going to do for sure,” said Glasgow.
So far the City of Edina had put up a fight with the county based on the cost saving percentages consolidating with the Macon Enhanced 911 Center would bring. The County of Knox and the Knox County Ambulance District are looking at a savings of over approximately 60 percent of what they are currently spending on dispatching in the county while the city would only save approximately ten percent of what they are paying now.
“We still think we should be able to benefit from the savings the county and ambulance will see because our citizens pay taxes to both the county and ambulance district,” said Edina Mayor Davy Strickler. “At our meeting on Wednesday the high call volume for Edina was factor and the amount of calls coming from the city is what we’re looking at now.”
According to Glasgow the county will wait for the city to make a decision on whether they will participate in the program and foot a portion of the cost to have E-911 services in Edina. If the Edina City Council decides to participate in the consolidation contracts will have to be drawn up between the County of Knox and the City of Edina along with contracts between the County of Knox and the Knox County Ambulance District before the Knox County Commissioners will be ready to sign a deal with the Macon County Enhanced 911 Center.
“We just want everything in writing before we move forward. Once that’s done we’ll sign the contract. We still hope to have the ball rolling before the end of the year,” said Glasgow.