Members of the Joint Council of the City of Ardmore, TN Board of Mayor and Aldermen and the Town of Ardmore, AL Mayor and Town Council met in a special work session on Monday night, May 1. The purpose of the meeting was an attempt to find answers to ongoing problems the town and city faces in connecting with the E-911 system.

Present at the meeting were City of Ardmore, TN Mayor Bobby Hastings, Vice-Mayor Ken Crosson, and Aldermen Laurene Schrimsher, Janice Reece, Raymond Crabtree and Garon Hargrove.

Town of Ardmore, AL Mayor Eugene Shannon was present, as well as Councilmen Billy Shannon and Ricky Mitchell.

E-911 representatives at the work session included R.V. White, director of 911 Athens-Limestone County Emergency Management Communications District and Michael Goode, director of the Giles County E-911.

Mayor Hastings began the meeting by expressing his concerns over the current situation in Ardmore, pertaining to the 911 system. According to Hastings, the current system needs improvement both in terms of technology and efficiency.

“As it stands, our current system is outdated, antiquated and even dangerous,” said Hastings in his opening comments. “We need to bring Ardmore up to date and, at the same time, increase the safety of our citizens.”

Discussions of the problems centered on the fact that, under existing circumstances, 911 calls are either routed to Pulaski or Athens, depending on which phone tower the signal bounces off of. For land lines, calls from telephones with a 423 prefix go to Athens, while those from phones with a 427 prefix go to either Pulaski or Fayetteville. Once the 911 headquarters receives the call, the operator on duty then notifies the Ardmore Police Department dispatcher. All present expressed the feeling that this system was too cumbersome and, if the person making the call was unable to tell the operator where they were, it would take time to locate them.

At present, the 911 system in Pulaski is equipped with advanced technology that gives the operator the exact location a call is coming from and even has a map on the screen, giving directions to the location.

Hastings wanted to know what it would take in order to have this information available in Ardmore.

According to both Goode and White, the technology exists to make such information available, but both stated that doing so would be expensive.

The joint council, along with White and Goode, discussed the issue in detail but arrived at no firm solutions to the problem.

Hastings, as well as Mayor Shannon and the aldermen and councilmen in attendance repeated that, due to Ardmore’s unique location, the general feeling was that the city was not receiving adequate 911 coverage.

“I think we are taking a chance by not having access to the detailed information that the 911 system has,” said Hastings. “Virtually all of America has gone to 911 and we are one of the few places that hasn’t. As time passes, 911 will continue to become more technologically advanced. There is no doubt in my mind that we are going to have to join eventually. I think we should join now and save a few lives.”

Councilman Shannon suggested that White and Goode both investigate the exact costs associated with bringing Ardmore into the existing 911 network. After further discussion, both Goode and White agreed to explore the costs and procedures involved and report back to the joint council.