LISBON — Columbiana County will switch over to upgraded equipment and software from Solecom for the new next generation 911 system on Jan. 22, with the state shouldering most of the cost.

Columbiana County Emergency Management Agency Deputy Director and 911 Coordinator Brian Rutledge announced the date during the 911 Program Review Committee meeting on Thursday at the EMA in Lisbon.

During several past meetings, Rutledge wasn’t sure how much the state would pay toward the required equipment, but he reported the state did purchase $324,000 worth which was already delivered.

He said there’s still a few items Columbiana County 911 will need to purchase, including second monitors for each of the five Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) and the county Emergency Management Agency which serves as a back-up location for answering calls, and headsets, but he estimated the county’s cost at just under $30,000.

According to Rutledge, the new system will cut the maintenance cost in half from the current annual fee of $98,000 to $50,000 under the new system.

A schedule will be set up for training sessions, with administrators training on Jan. 14 and dispatchers training on Jan. 15, 16 and 17.

A question was raised about how the new headsets for answering 911 phones and radios will work with the county phone at the sheriff’s office, with Rutledge noting the sheriff’s office is unique and that will be taken into account.

Commissioner Tim Weigle, who was attending his last 911 meeting, said he’s sure that will be worked out.

Weigle has been involved with 911 since 2013 and said he’ll try to stay available as an advisor. Another commissioner will take over as 911 representative in January.

Weigle said he’s more than willing to go back to Columbus to testify again before the legislature to request an amendment to the 911 funding bill. He said he thinks the state has realized they don’t have enough money and that’s why they’ve been looking for alternate methods of funding all the county 911s. Rutledge said the state still hasn’t decide what formula to use to determine how much money each county receives of the wireless funding.

Funding for 911 includes a 50-cent monthly fee charged per landline in the county, which voters approved, with a 25-cent monthly fee for wireless devices which is supposed to be increasing.

Weigle explained previously that he, Rutledge and county EMA Director Peggy Clark traveled to Columbus and argued for a 70-cent monthly fee per wireless device to cover the costs. Unfortunately, when the legislation reached the state senate, the fee was dropped to 40 cents per wireless device and the percentage of that fee each county receives was dropped to 72 percent. That means they’ll only see an increase of maybe 3 cents per wireless device.

Rutledge said as of now, the funding from wireless is $73,000 more than the balance last year at this time.

He thanked Weigle for his work on 911, saying “you’ve done a fabulous job.” Committee member Madison Township Trustee Wayne Chamberlain also told Weigle he’s done a good job.

In other business, Rutledge said 911 recorders are at the end of their life and need replaced, which will happen soon. The list of possible vendors has been narrowed to three, with personnel trying to figure out how much is being recorded, noting that affects the price. He estimated the equipment cost at $120,000, with maintenance costs of $20,000.

Weigle reported on the fund totals with the wireline fund balance at $691,040 and the wireless fund balance at $1,424,956.

New dispatcher training is set for end of November and early December, with an estimated 10 new dispatchers expected.

Rutledge recommended another training opportunity for local dispatchers and law enforcement called Ohio Alerts Training set for 9 a.m. Dec. 11 at the EMA. The free course is offered through the Ohio AMBER Alert Advisory Committee and includes training regarding AMBER alerts, missing child alerts, endangering missing adult alerts and Ohio Blue Alert related to law enforcement.

“It’s good information and good training,” he said.

To register, visit the Public Safety Training Campus at https://learning.dps.ohio.gov/pstc.

The next 911 meeting is tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. Feb. 6.