Sep. 16--Five 911 dispatchers could be added to the Hays County Sheriff's Office next month, with five more following on Jan. 1.

Buda Fire Chief Clay Huckaby and representatives from the Hays County Fire Chiefs Association presented a plan to the Hays County Commissioners' Court on Tuesday that, if approved, would allow five new Fire and EMS Emergency Communication Officer (ECO) positions to open immediately and five more to open up Jan. 1, 2010.

"It will not only benefit residents, but it will benefit the first responders who are out on the front lines every day," Huckaby said.

He said there are now three dispatchers working at any given time, with each answering about 126 calls every 12-hour shift.

"This poses a significant safety risk to the public and emergency first responders," the Strategic Communications Plan said.

Huckaby said the influx of calls over the past few years has forced dispatchers to place callers on hold to answer other calls.

"When you call 911, you don't want to be put on hold," he said.

ECOs are responsible for answering 911 emergency calls, non-emergency and administrative calls, dispatch and maintain records for 27 different agencies, the proposal said.

Huckaby recommended commissioners allow funding for 10 new ECO positions and two dispatch radio consoles to be purchased from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA).

The radio consoles were approved at Tuesday's meeting at a cost of $136,190. The projected added personnel cost would be $406,983 annually.

The first five additional ECOs could be hired as soon as Oct. 1, and after training, would fill positions starting April 30, 2010. The second batch of five would be hired by Jan. 1, 2010 and would fill positions by June 30, 2010. This will add two on-duty dispatchers to each shift.

"This plan's been long overdue, and as you can see, if it's delayed another year, it will be two years before it can go into place," Huckaby said.

Each position will have a base pay of $26,549. With insurance costs, FICA and paid holidays, the total for each staff member would be $40,698.

All the commissioners indicated support for the plan, which was presented just one day before the court is to consider adopting the county's annual budget.

"This should have been done some time ago," Commissioner Will Conley said.

-----

To see more of the San Marcos Daily Record or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, San Marcos Daily Record, Texas

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.