County and city officials approved an Interlocal agreement that will allow the creation of a trust authority to oversee the implementation of enhanced 911 call center.

The agreement was approved in advance of the anticipated filing by county officials next week of two ballot resolutions that will be presented Nov. 4 for approval by county voters. The E-911 call center would serve the entire county.

The ballot questions will ask Muskogee County voters to approve a 15 percent surcharge on the basic cost of a land line and a 50-cent fee for cellular telephone subscribers.

The revenue generated by the fees will be used to fund operations of a countywide 911 call center. The interlocal agreement provides the city and county will split evenly the difference in operational costs that exceed the E-911 fees collected.

“Those (fee) increases will not fund the full costs of the countywide system,” Muskogee City Manager Greg Buckley said Monday while addressing the topic during the Muskogee County Board of Commissioners meeting. “It’s going to take additional dollars from the city and the county to fully fund this. ... I think this is a positive move.”

District 3 Commissioner Dexter Payne, who serves the county’s 911 commission as chairman, said the interlocal agreement approved Monday was a necessary step to take before the two ballot questions are submitted to election officials.

In order to have the 911 measures placed on the Nov. 4 ballot, the questions must be approved by officials and submitted to Muskogee County Election Board by Sept. 4.

The trust authority expected to be created to oversee operations of the countywide E-911 call center will consist of city and county representatives appointed by the Muskogee Board of County Commissioners and the Muskogee City Council.

Appointees, Payne said, will include representatives of emergency response agencies located throughout the county.

Both city and county officials say the enhanced 911 emergency telephone service, if approved by the voters in November, would provide residents with a greatly improved service.

“This will give the whole county access to speedy response in times of an emergency,” Payne said.

In anticipation of the implementation of countywide 911 service, county commissioners recently contracted with the Eastern Oklahoma Development District to complete mapping and addressing necessary for seamless operation of the emergency telephone service.

Buckley, during the City Council meeting Monday night, said the pooling of city and county resources will “get us a much better system.”

Reach D.E. Smoot at 918-684-2903 or Click Here to Send Email