HOT SPRINGS, S.D. – In regards to the press release issued Thursday, Feb 9. 2017 from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety announcing the State 9-1-1 Board’s vote to withhold payment to Comtech due to issues with the NextGen 9-1-1 system.

Fall River County Dispatch (the PSAP located in Hot Springs, SD) has not yet switched to the NextGen system and is therefore unaffected by the issues being addressed in that press release. Fall River County Dispatch is not scheduled to switch to the new system until later this year.

Original State News Release:

Subject: State 9-1-1 Board Votes to Withhold Payment to Vendor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, Feb. 9. 2017

Contact: Tony Mangan, Public Information Officer, 605-773-6196

State 9-1-1 Board Votes to Withhold Payment to Vendor

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota’s 9-1-1 Coordination Board voted Thursday to withhold payment to the vendor who has been hired to upgrade the state’s 9-1-1 emergency communications system.

Payment to NextGen Communications, Inc. (Comtech) of Annapolis, MD is being withheld effective immediately. The current contract calls for the state to pay Comtech $259,000 a month for its work on the system.

Since 2015, the state has paid Comtech $7.4 million to design, build and maintain a statewide Next Generation 9-1-1 system. The new 9-1-1 system will equip all of the state’s 28 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) with Next Generation (NEXTGEN) 9-1-1 technology.  This new technology will allow the PSAPs to share information and data easier, provide back up to one another and eventually accept text to 9-1-1 messages when a phone call to 9-1-1 isn’t possible.

The phase one work of installing a new phone system has been done at 19 PSAPs so far and this phase is scheduled to be completed this year. But in a letter to Comtech sent today (Feb. 9), the 9-1-1 Coordination Board stated that Comtech has been slow to fix several recurring problems found within the system.

“While the state understands there will be trouble tickets submitted over time by each PSAP, the recurring frequency of these issues is unacceptable,” the letter reads. “Comtech must resolve these specific items and provide the state with an explanation of how it was resolved and provide assurance the system as deployed will work as designed.”

The letter says monthly payment will be withheld until such time as the listed items are resolved to the satisfaction of the state.

While there have been problems in some areas, the board stresses that the 9-1-1 system still functions statewide.

“None of the PSAPs are without service and 9-1-1 emergency calls are being answered,” says state 9-1-1 Coordinator Shawnie Rechtenbaugh. “But for the new system to work as it should, Comtech needs to fix these recurring problems. It has been a frustrating situation that has lingered for several months and the board believed it had to act.”

PSAPS are located in: Aberdeen, Belle Fourche, Britton, Brookings, Canton, Custer, Deadwood, Elk Point, Flandreau, Hot Springs, Howard, Huron, Lake Andes, Madison, Mitchell, Mobridge, Pierre, Rapid City, Redfield, Sioux Falls, Sisseton, Spearfish, Sturgis, Tyndall, Vermillion, Watertown, Winner and Yankton

The 9-1-1 Coordination Board is part of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.

911 Dispatcher: Fall River County Sheriffs Office is accepting applications for a full time 911 Dispatchers. The starting wage: $12.00/hour. Shifts are day, evening and overnight, and include weekends and holidays. Benefits include paid health, vision and dental insurance; vacation, sick and personal leave and South Dakota State Retirement.

The position involves substantial public contact, receiving incoming radio and phone calls, and entering information into the computer aided dispatch system.  Individuals must be able to multi task with accurate typing (35 words per minute) and computer skills. This facility handles multiple calls from different agencies which will need dispatched out simultaneously. Applicant must be able to remain calm and maintain composure and treat people with respect even under pressure in stressful situations. Individual must possess the ability to consistently think clearly; act quickly; and calmly in a wide variety of situations.

The position requires SD State Certification for radio dispatching. The training, completed in Pierre, SD will be provided to successful applicants.  Position requires a medical physical (UA and hearing test), fingerprinting and background check. Submit application (see law enforcement application below) to Fall River County Sheriff’s office, 906 N. River St. Hot Springs, SD. Open until filled.

See Employment page for application or other job listings.

The Fall River County Courthouse will be closed on Wednesday, February 1st due to the winter storm.

The Director of Equalization (DOE) completed the fourth year of the county-wide reassessment this year with the completion of the commercial reassessment.  As with the residential reassessment preliminary assessment notices have been sent to all commercial property owners.  These notices were sent on Friday January 20th.  If you are a commercial property owner and have not received a notice by the end of the week please inform the DOE at 605-745-5136.

These preliminary notices display the value changes ascribed to a property due to the field work that was conducted in the summer of 2016.  These new values are not reflected in the tax bill which was also sent in January.  (The January tax bill is based on values from the March 2016 assessment notice.) Commercial property owners have until February 10th to contact the assessors about these preliminary values.

Official assessment notices will be sent out on March 1st after which any changes will have to use the official appeal process. The deadline for official appeals is March 16th for Oelrichs, Provo, and Argentine; April 4th for all other locations in Fall River County.

For more information see the DOE webpage.

The Board of County Commissioners of Fall River County will receive bids for a one year period beginning January 22nd, 2017 and ending January 22nd, 2018 for the following supplies: base course, chips, fines, and sand.  For more information see 2017 Fall River County Annual Bids.

The Board of County Commissioners have allowed for sealed bids on 4 plow wings.  Sealed bids can be turned in to the Auditor’s office at 906 N River St, Hot Springs, SD 57747.  Bids must be received by February 7th at 10:15 AM. For More information see Balderson Wing Plow Surplus