NON COMPLIANCE WITH STATE E 9-1-1 GUIDELINES

I submitted a request to name the “internal access way” in front of the Public Works garage through the Transfer Station and back to Capital Avenue as “Ricker Circle”.  This request was denied by the town because of following reasons:

1       This is NOT a road/street; it is an internal access way.

2        The town ordinance requires two addresses on the same road/street.

Come to find out, the Public Works building and the Transfer Station have the same address (14 Capital Avenue).  How can this be when there are two different buildings, two different phone numbers and two different internal access ways? 

In 1988, Maine voters approved the statewide deployment of Enhanced 9-1-1 service.  In 1994, the Emergency Services Communication Bureau was created as an agency within the Maine Department of Public Safety to oversee the development and implementation of statewide Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) service.  See the page taken from E9-1-1 guidelines.

(Click on above information to print for easier reading)

Now, I know that the Town Manager, Diane Barnes and Chairman Pesce are going to say that the town does not have to comply because this is just a guideline.  But the first line of the second paragraph says it all.  I quote “To provide the location of a caller, a telephone number must be linked to a physical address that clearly identifies the location of that telephone.”  The whole purpose of E9-1-1 is to provide an exact location for First Responders in an emergency. 

Having the Public Works building and the Transfer Station having two different buildings; two different telephone numbers and two different internal access ways, defeats the purpose and the intent of E9-1-1.  This is a minor problem that could be resolved in short order, provided the Town Manager and the Town Council can get over themselves and do what is right for the residents of Lisbon. 

Compliance with E9-1-1 will not cost the taxpayers any money.

The “internal access way” is the official traffic pattern for the entire town to utilize to get to the Transfer Station.  This situation has been over looked for years and now is the time to correct this problem and eliminate two problem areas that have now surfaced.

The town leadership has now been notified of the deplorable situation leading to the Transfer Station and the non-compliance with E9-1-1.  This notification now makes the Town liable.

Larry Fillmore