911 director reports progress on Lost City and Helmet Rock towers; county considering GIS review before NextGen upgrade

The Hardy County 911 director told the commission May 6 that construction and equipment work is under way on local radio sites but that carrier coordination remains incomplete. The director said the County’s vendor has been working on motorized equipment installation at the Lost City tower and Helmet Rock site; engineers at AT&T have received information on Lost City but had not returned a schedule, and T-Mobile had requested a structural analysis and mapping data for Helmet Rock and had not yet provided it.

The director advised caution on the county’s NextGen 911 plans. Because NextGen call routing relies heavily on accurate GIS addressing and mapping, he recommended hiring a firm to audit and correct the county’s GIS data before investing several hundred thousand dollars in NextGen equipment. He said initial GIS auditing work would likely cost “a thousand some dollars” for an initial study and could prevent wasteful spending if address data needs correction.

Call-volume figures for April were provided: the county 911 center logged 601 total calls. Law-enforcement call breakdown included the County Sheriff’s Office with 272 calls, Moorefield Police Department 128 (transcript shows 'Morfield' likely Moorefield), and the West Virginia State Police 44 calls. EMS call totals included HCEAA with 92 calls, West Hardy with 10 and Morganville with 36; fire departments and highway calls were also listed. The director said additional state police presence has increased their call volume.

The director also reported grant updates: the county’s EMPG award for 2023 totaled roughly $24,000 coming into the county, LEPC funding of $3,000 had been submitted and required a revised budget signature, and notice had arrived that a new grant cycle for another program was opening. He said regional coordination continues and that the state will install and maintain additional river gauges if the county buys them (estimated around $5,000 each).

Commissioners asked about next steps with carriers and structural analysis requirements; the director said he had forwarded requested tower analysis and mapping requests to carriers and was awaiting responses. He also noted other legislation to watch, including Senate Bill 8 (newborn-safety devices) and a house bill that would change tower notification requirements.

What’s next: staff will seek a GIS-audit vendor to confirm readiness for NextGen 911, continue outreach to carriers for tower engineering replies and finalize required sign-offs for LEPC and EMPG grant paperwork.