Terre Haute struggling hard to purchase new emergency equipment

Efforts to purchase new emergency equipment for Vigo County and the City of Terre Haute are stalled in April, but county officials may be dealing with the matter again. At a Vigo County Council meeting last week, Sheriff Jon Marvel asked the seven-member fiscal body Vigo County Council for approval to spend $300,000 on a new digital 911 system as well as $49,000 for a director of the 911 office.

After the council meeting Marvel said, “We have the money there. It cannot be used to pave streets or fix light posts. It must be used for the 911 system.” Dunkin, D-1st, is the Terre Haute City Council’s representative on the 911 board. All he had to say was, “The 911 [fund] is absolutely flush”. $500,000 in cash and investments is currently in the fund, he said.

Marvel, who was named to lead the 911 system by the county commissioners, proposed to hire a 911 director and also approved the purchase of a new digital 911 system. Marvel asked the council to approve the spending. However, council members had doubts and were reluctant to say ‘yes’. Marvel said he believed the effort to postpone a vote was “purely a political move.” Certain members of the council want to delay the hiring of a 911 director until after the election, he said. “They want the new sheriff in 2011 to start making these decisions,”

Council President Miller said, “Because the request was withdrawn at the April meeting, it must now go through the formal process of being introduced, including advertising, once again. Postponing a vote would have allowed the council to bring the matter back up for a vote potentially sooner,” she said.