DIVISION OF COMMUNICATIONS - History 1986 to 1998

A New Beginning (1986 to 1998)......

After several false starts earlier in the decade, the plans for a brand new communications center, to be built on three acres of land next to the existing property, were approved in April of 1986. The 6,800 square foot building would house a 900 square foot Communications Room, administrative offices and the Office of Emergency Management. By that time the staff had grown to 10 full time operators, 5 part time operators, 3 supervisors and 3 administrative personnel. The old building had become so overcrowded that to get from one side of the dispatch room to the other, you had to literally go out of the room and through the lounge and the men's room.

The cost of the new facility was estimated at $700,000. Since Emergency Management was incorporated into the design, some federal funding was available to offset the cost to the county taxpayers. Construction began on the new building in late 1986, and it was slated for completion the following year.

1987 brought other changes to the emergency service community. The first Hunterdon Medical Center Mobile Intensive Care Unit came on line and began Advanced Life Support (ALS) service to the residents of Hunterdon County. The addition of ALS would dramatically change the way patients would be treated from then on.

The 1980's also saw the New Jersey State Police take over as the lead agency for the Office of Emergency Management. The State Police became very active in planning for disasters. The cold war days of Civil Defense were over and every municipality was required to have a written plan for dealing with a variety of disasters and hazards. This would be no easy task and more staffing would be required to accomplish this monumental task.

Moving day finally came on December 17, 1987. The dispatch room seemed almost cavernous compared to the farmhouse. You could literally walk around the perimeter walls without bumping into something. Someone even took the time to figure out that 66 laps around the room equaled 1 mile. There was a spacious conference room and plenty of storage. But that luxury would be short-lived as Hunterdon County would again experience a growth spurt in the near future. Sadly, retired Chief Dispatcher Norm Scheetz passed away after a long illness only 13 days before on December 4, 1987. He never got the opportunity to see the new center in operation.

In April of 1988 three more operators were hired and Robert Anderson was promoted to the position of Assistant Director and Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator.

In 1989 it was recognized by many New Jersey public safety officials, including Director Alan Armitage, that a statewide 9-1-1 system was needed and the 9-1-1 Commission was formed in April of that year. The purpose of the commission was to formulate the rules and regulations that would eventually establish the technical requirements and operational standards for all components of the Statewide 9-1-1 Enhanced Emergency Telephone System. They would be responsible for setting the standards for planning, equipping, staffing, establishing, operating and maintaining Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP), Public Safety Dispatch Points (PSDP), and the Enhanced 9-1-1 Network in New Jersey. In 1990 Mr. Armitage was appointed by then-Governor Thomas Kean as one of the first 9-1-1 Commissioners.

Enhanced 9-1-1 brought changes to the way dispatching was done. No longer were rural delivery addresses acceptable. Street names and house numbers were needed in order for the system to work. Sending a fire truck or an ambulance to RD 5 Box 2 just didn't work, unless you mailed them. Each municipality had to establish a street addressing system that would conform with the new system. To help coordinate the changes, the position of 9-1-1- Coordinator was established and John Strauss was promoted to Supervisor of Communications to take on those duties.

Hunterdon County received a $364,000 grant from the State of New Jersey to establish a state-of-the-art Enhanced 9-1-1 System. After working with United Telephone (now Sprint), the county installed the CML ECS 1000 switch and equipment that would allow a dispatcher receiving a 9-1-1 call to know not only the telephone number of a 9-1-1 call, but also it's location. Automatic Location Information (ALI) shows the dispatcher all of the pertinent information that is required for dispatching a call. It includes not only the name and address of the caller, but also recommends the emergency response agencies.

On June 23, 1992, after months of installation and testing, Hunterdon County turned on the new system, becoming the fifth New Jersey county to be up and running on the Enhanced 9-1-1 System. A dedication ceremony was held and dignitaries from throughout the state and United Telephone (Sprint) were on hand to help celebrate. At the time, there were some technological firsts including fiber optic cables and digital switching. A ceremonial "cable-cutting" was done by Freeholders George Melick and Frank Fuzo to signify the cutting over to the new fiber optic network.

Also installed in 1992 were the Queues Enforth Development (Q.E.D.) Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system and a computerized mapping system. With the push of a button caller information could be moved from the 9-1-1 screen to the CAD and at the same time draw a map to show the callers location.

January 1, 1994 rang in some personnel changes at Hunterdon County Communications. Director Alan Armitage retired and moved to Colorado and built a beautiful home in the mountains with a great view of Pike's Peak. Robert Anderson was appointed the new Director of Communications and Emergency Management Coordinator. The Technical Division was formed with the promotion of Harry Heller to Technical Supervisor. More operations staff were hired and additional shifts were added.

The next few years were relatively uneventful. In 1997 another of the original dispatchers passed on. On November 12 Dale Hapes (Operator 8) passed away after a lengthy a respiratory illness. Dale had been a long time dispatcher, having operated the Flemington Answering Service, an agency responsible for dispatching emergency service agencies in the Flemington area prior to the county system being put in place. Dale is survived by his wife Jane and son Eugene.

HISTORY - continued: 1999 and beyond........

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