City to receive $200,000 grant for 911 system

Poplar Bluff City Council members received some good news in the form of a grant for the city’s 911 system on the night they voted 5-1 to enact a hiring freeze and other cuts needed to balance the 2020 budget.

The 2020 budget amendments create more than $336,000 in savings and were approved with one ‘no’ vote, from council member Ed DeGaris. Council member Lisa Parson was absent.

The budget amendments were discussed by council members in July. They include savings of almost $186,200 from a hiring freeze which will leave the city planner position open, as well as spots at the street and police departments. Other savings came in the form of a COVID-19 grant at the airport and reduced hours at the Black River Coliseum pool and fitness center and the Margaret Harwell Art Museum.

DeGaris said after the meeting he was concerned the hiring freeze leaves departments too short staffed. It will include a police officer position for the remainder of the year and both full and part-time positions at the street department for the remainder of 2020.

“Cutting our workforce down is not a good option for me. I went through that (as a police officer),” said DeGaris, who retired from the Poplar Bluff Police Department. “I don’t want to see the police or street departments short staffed, or any of our departments.”

DeGaris said he would have preferred to look at other options, but did not provide details on those options.

911 grant

Council members also received word the city has been approved for $208,000 in grant money to replace aging 911 equipment.

The city will contribute matching funds of approximately $83,000 to the effort. Money will come from its capital improvement fund, which is a dedicated account for equipment and building-related spending. Savings impacted by the budget amendments relate to general fund spending.

Council members are expected to vote on the grant at the Aug. 17 meeting.

The funds will come from the Missouri Department of Public Safety, which has received federal funding for the effort.

The new equipment must be purchased by December 2021, according to grant requirements.

The city will evaluate bidding options after the grant is accepted by council, city officials said.

This purchase will upgrade the city 911 system to text-to-911 capabilities, as well as offer integrated mapping software with automatic retransmission of location data, grant documents report.

The current system is 12 years old, said Patrolman Austin Lemonds.

Troubleshooting support is no longer available, nor are replacement parts, he said.

“If that goes down, you no longer have a 911 system for (the city of) Poplar Bluff,” said Lemonds. “It gets transferred over to the county and they do not have the manpower to take the 911 calls that we currently take at the police department.”

This grant will allow the department to replace legacy equipment with next generation technology, he said.

While the purchase cannot wait until after a new police department headquarters is built, the city is asking for language in any potential contract to include a move from the current facilities to a new location, officials said.

In other business, the council:

- Approved the lower of two bids for a new aircraft hanger door at the Poplar Bluff airport. The cost will be $49,790 from Thatch Construction of Ravenden Springs, Arkansas, for the unit. Funds will come from the capital improvement fund, said city manager Matt Winters.

The hanger was built in the 1980s and currently houses three aircraft worth a combined approximately $1 million, said Gary Pride, airport manager. The current door frame and hinges have reached their end of life and break down about every 45 days, he said. The new door will be approximately 70 feet wide by 18 feet tall and operate hydraulically.

- Approved installation of a cell tower at 1017 Ridge Ave.

- Approved an ordinance establishing a conflict of interest policy for municipal officers.