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Clayton officials review emergency notification and dispatch gaps after storm response
Summary
Council members discussed how emergency calls are routed, the town’s reliance on county dispatch when no local duty officer is available, and the need to ensure voicemail access and clearer phone routing during storms.
Town of Clayton council members discussed shortcomings in the town’s emergency notification and dispatch process after a recent storm that left downed power lines and roadway hazards.
Council members said town dispatch currently follows a duty roster and that when no one in town is on duty Hendricks County is dispatched as a backup. "Their setup is to call whoever's on duty. So it's not even necessary to call me. It's whoever's on duty at the time," a speaker identified as John said. Council members said that when Hendricks County is busy county responders may be delayed, and the town’s calls can be queued until county units are available.
Officials described a recent morning when a downed power line on Kentucky Street occurred before sunrise. Duke Energy told the town it might take "six or seven hours" to respond, and county responders who had been sent initially later were pulled away on emergency runs. Members said the town needs clearer phone routing and working voicemail at the local contact number. "We'll just need to make sure whatever phone numbers are being called . . . have a voice mail availability to it," one council member said.
Council members also noted the town has barricades and cones stored in a shed and that town personnel could place barriers quickly for safety if notified. Several speakers described informal arrangements—public works staff and on-call personnel who can respond within minutes to set barricades—but the council requested that phone protocols be checked so that messages are reliably captured and routed to on-duty staff.
No formal policy change was adopted at the meeting; council members asked staff to verify phone routing, voicemail availability and backup dispatch protocols, and to ensure staff who have access to barricades can be contacted during out-of-hours events.
