911 Coordinator selected by board     
                            
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White County will soon have a new 911/OES Coordinator following a unanimous vote by the White County 911 Board Tuesday night.

After a short executive session to discuss four applicants to the position, the board emerged and voted 4-0 to hire Eric S. Swanson, a retired Marine currently living in Jacksonville, N.C., to take the position.

Swanson was among four applicants who were fielded for consideration out of more than 20 possible candidates for the job.

"If anything, he is overqualified," said 911 Board Chairman Bill Haynie. "I think the board is very happy with his selection."

"Any one of the four would do an excellent job for White County," said Joey Smith, a board member from Rose Bud. "But this guy was the obvious choice."

Swanson met with the board members recently during the selection process and Haynie said that all of the members were impressed with his credentials and his bearing.

"He was squared away," Haynie said. "He asked us what type of training he might need that he didn't already have and said that he would make it happen."

The board also voted 4-0 to approve a salary of $33,500 for the position. Haynie said that he would get with the quorum court to get on the agenda of the May 20 meeting to introduce Swanson to the court. Swanson's tentative starting date was set for May 19.

In other business, Haynie presented an informational report to the board concerning research into the feasibility of obtaining two remote displays for the county's PSAP units, which are the nerve center of the 911 system, to place with the Bald Knob Police Department and with NorthStar EMS.

"No one officially asked me," Haynie told the board, "but I thought if it was feasible it would be good for Bald Knob and NorthStar to be able to read the 911 info from the screen."

However, cost is the major factor at this time, Haynie said. The county only has to capability to wire in one more remote unit to the system, which would cost $5,000 for installation and $100 per month.

The cost of a second remote unit, along with the equipment to hook it into the county system, would double, at $10,000 for a second unit, he said, and the monthly fee would be more than double due to the distance between Searcy and Bald Knob.

"You're looking at easily $15,000 and $400 a month," Haynie said. "It was a little bit higher than I thought it would be."

The Beebe Police Department currently has a remote unit. Because Bald Knob has a full-time dispatch office, the board has noted that it would like to install a remote unit there whenever it becomes practical to do so, as well as installing a unit at NorthStar.

The board will meet again at the White County Courthouse on May 8 at 6:30 p.m. Swanson will be invited to the meeting, at which a job description for the 911/OES Coordinator will be presented and voted on.