9-1-1 Board promises to find solution for dispatch

The Evangeline Parish Communication District 9-1-1 board promises that the current dispatch dispute between them and the Sheriff’s Office will be resolved.
“Were not going to switch over until we have this worked out,” 9-1-1 Board President Kevin Fontenot said at Wednesday’s special board meeting. “We have to make sure we get this all worked out.”
The dispute centers around who is responsible for dispatching calls for the law enforcement agencies in Pine Prairie, Turkey Creek, Chataignier and possibly Ward #4 and Ward #5 Fire Districts, once 9-1-1 transitions to its new office at The Industrial Park in April.
District Attorney Trent Brignac sent out a letter to both entities, as well as the Evangeline Parish Police Jury and the mayors affected to find a resolution to the matter, before 9-1-1 would be allowed to move to its new location.
That led to a meeting on Feb. 10 inside the Police Jury Room at the Evangeline Parish Courthouse involving a majority of the parties.
At Wednesday night’s 9-1-1 Board meeting, Director Liz Hill said they have come up with a solution for those agencies affected by the change.
“One of the issues is if the sheriff’s office isn’t going to dispatch for them anymore what radio frequency are they going to use, because right now they are using the sheriff’s frequency.” Hill said. “So they can’t share his frequency anymore. For them to get their own frequencies and everything that would mean each one getting a FCC license, a repeater and a tower. You are looking at a high cost for that.”
Hill went on to state that those agencies could use a frequency, one provided by the state.
“We do have another radio system that can be used,” Hill said. “It is called a 700 megahertz radio. It is the system that the state developed after Hurricane Katrina. The state has their own towers, their own repeaters and they maintain it. We have some radios, each agency has radios that were purchased on a grant or given to them by the state and they could use those.”
Hill stated that Avoyelles and St. Martin Parishes both use the 700-radio system exclusively.
The only issue with that would be that those municipalities would have to pay a fee.
“There is one issue that we have to address,” Assistant District Attorney Nicole Gill said. “None of those funds can be used in non-emergency situations. So calls coming in for NCIC (National Crime Information Center) like running a license plate during a traffic stop is considered non-emergency.”
“It means that we will have to be compensated for that service in some way,” Hill said. “We have to come up with a number that is justifiable so we will not get into any tangles using 911 money for non-emergency services.”
Hill cited a method that Rapides Parish has used to deal with the same issue. According to Hill, the 9-1-1 Director there asked for an Attorney General’s opinion on the matter in the late 1990’s. That resulted in the parish charging small municipalities a fee of $100 per month for non-emergency calls.
Those also in attendance at the public meeting were Ville Platte City Court Judge Greg Vidrine, former District Attorney Brent Coriel, Evangeline Parish Police Jury Secretary-Treasurer Donald Bergeron and Police Juror Eric Soileau and Turkey Creek Mayor Heather Cloud. Sheriff and board member Soileau was not present.
Fontenot still believes there is chance that things can be worked out with Sheriff Eddie Soileau.
“I think a lot of it is his budget because it is not what it used to be,” Fontenot said. “I would still like to get with the sheriff and see what it takes to fix this.”