HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-10-31, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013.PRISM 911 replacedby new system: Lew
Lending a helping hand
Seth Nichol, right, president of the newly-formed Brussels Leo Club, a youth division of the
Brussels Lions Club, was busy on Saturday morning, despite the poor weather. Nichol and
several other club members spent the morning out in the community of Brussels collecting
non-perishable food items from residents, like Harvey Shaw, left, who were willing to help out
their local food bank. (Jim Brown photo)
Poppy time
The Brussels Legion helped to supply the community with
poppies over the weekend as Sandra Josling accepts a
donation from Brian Cardiff. (Jim Brown photo)
North Huron Township Council
was informed by Huron Emergency
Services Director David Lew the
PRISM (Protective Response
Interactive Service Management)
system would soon be replaced by a
new, more configurable system.
Lew, who was accompanied by
911 Specialist Ian Siertsema, told
council about the new Huron County
Community notification system that
has replaced the PRISM system as a
means of getting messages to Huron
County residents quickly and
efficiently.
Lew explained PRISM, which was
launched in 2009, was not as quick
acting a system as they anticipated it
being. He said that, while the
program and launch of it were
successful, the limitations of the
system, which only has 16 ports to
call out on, could result in messages
not being delivered as quickly as
possible.
He explained that, with a one
minute message, over the 16 ports,
the PRISM system could contact 960
residents within an hour, but due to
message length and caller response,
it managed a consistent average of
700 calls per hour.
“We had a need to call residents
faster and to have a higher capacity
of calls,” Lew said.
He explained that, because of that,
the decision was made to move to a
dialer with more phone lines and a
budget for the updated system was
set at $72,000.
After some time, and some
discussion with information
technology professionals within the
county, however, it was decided a
better system could be built from the
ground up for nearly half the cost,
running the county only $40,000.
The new dialer, which currently
has 50 lines and will soon be
upgraded to 100, can easily reach as
many as 2,400 residents within an
hour and, when the 100 lines are
installed, 4,800 to 5,400 residences
can be contacted within an hour,
according to Lew.
He also explained the system will
allow for better feedback, more
configuration options and fewer
limitations.
He said the current system, which
is run by a third-party company, was
limited to emergency uses but the
new system could be used for any
number of purposes, as the county
would dictate who could use it.
Other new features include
message customization, scalability, a
caller ID matching the nature of the
call, remote access capabilities and
multi-user management.
Siertsema explained the
functionality of the system will
remain the same and the data already
collected for PRISM has been
incorporated into the new system.
Verification of that data has already
begun.
The system, which will dial people
who are either in an area or are
otherwise affected by some sort of
emergency, can be used to advise
individuals of boil water advisories,
police operations such as missing
persons and crime alerts, chemical
spills, planned power outages,
natural disasters, major flood,
dangerous or rabid animal alerts and
emergency incident information
updates. Many of those options
weren’t included with PRISM as the
county didn’t own the program.
The response from residents is
also recorded and the option to have
multiple contact numbers for
ratepayers is included.
If a call is deemed important
enough to need confirmation from
the ratepayers and the first attempted
call either isn’t answered or it goes
to voicemail, a second number, such
as a mobile or work number, will be
used. If that number isn’t answered,
it will go to a third number. A print-
out then advises whoever posted the
alert as to who received the message
and who didn’t.
Notification lists can also be used
to advise employees of community
control groups, hospitals, emergency
medical services, nursing homes and
“almost any group in Huron
County,” Lew said.
Thus far, more than one-third of
the county’s population has signed
up for the service and information
will soon be made available as to the
features of the system to encourage
more residents to sign up.
Councillor Archie MacGowan,
administrator of Braemar
Retirement Centre, had high praises
for the current system and was
happy to hear of the new one.
“The system is fabulous and not
just for dire emergencies,” he said.
“It lets us get out information about
outbreaks. Within 15 minutes I can
print out a sheet saying who got the
information and who didn’t.”
TAKE NOTICE that the Council of the Corporation of the Township of North Huron will hold a public
meeting on Monday, December 2nd, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Township of North
Huron municipal office, to consider revisions to the Official Plan Amendment under Section 26 of the
Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, as amended. This amendment affects the entire Township of North Huron.
ANY PERSON may attend the public meeting and/or make written or verbal representation, either in
support of or in opposition to the proposed amendments.
ONLY individuals, corporations and public bodies may appeal a by-law or Official Plan amendment to the
Ontario Municipal Board. A notice of appeal may not be filed by an unincorporated association or group.
However, a notice of appeal may be filed in the name of an individual who is a member of the association
or the group on its behalf.
IF A PERSON OR PUBLIC BODY does not make oral submissions at a public meeting or make written
submissions to the Township of North Huron before the Official Plan Amendments are passed, the person
or public body is not entitled to appeal the decision of the approval authority to the Ontario Municipal Board.
IF A PERSON OR PUBLIC BODY does not make oral submission at a public meeting or make written
submissions to the Township of North Huron before the Official Plan Amendments are passed, the person
or public body may not be added as a party to the hearing of an appeal before the Ontario Municipal Board
unless, in the opinion of the Board, there are reasonable grounds to add the person or public body.
PURPOSE AND EFFECT:
The Township of North Huron is required to undertake a five-year review of the Township’s Official Plan, a
land use planning document that is a statement of where and how development should take place. A
special meeting was held in June 2013 and an open house was held at the Belgrave Community Center in
July 2013 to discuss potential changes and review draft revisions. Changes have been proposed for many
sections of the official plan including agricultural, extractive resources and urban policies.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION relating to the proposed Official Plan revisions is available for inspection
during regular office hours at the Township of North Huron Municipal office 274 Josephine Street, Wingham,
ON (519) 357-3550, and the Huron County Planning and Development Department (519) 524-8394 Ext. 3.
DATED AT THE TOWNSHIP OF NORTH HURON THIS 28th DAY OF October, 2013.
Gary Long, CAO/Clerk
Township of North Huron
Box 90
Wingham, Ontario N0G 2W0
(519) 357-3550
NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING
CONCERNING A PROPOSED OFFICIAL PLAN
AMENDMENT FOR A FIVE-YEAR REVIEW
OF THE TOWNSHIP OF
NORTH HURON OFFICIAL PLAN
By Denny Scott
The Citizen