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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