By GEOFF CUNNINGHAM Jr.

Staff Writer

ALTON — The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved an Emergency 911 (E911) ordinance that will seek to expedite response times by giving all town residents new, easier to locate, addresses.

Town officials are aiming to implement the new standardized addressing system no sooner than Oct. 15.

The new E911 ordinance makes the town’s buildings easier to locate by establishing a uniform system for numbering and marking them. Selectmen voted to approve the ordinance at their regular meeting on Monday.

In recent years the town has been working with the state to map and establish new addresses for all primary (occupied) buildings located within the town.

The new E911 addressing system will see a number being assigned to each 50-foot increment of road frontage in town.

Sean Goodwin of the state’s Emergency Communications Division said such a system virtually guarantees that all properties — even ones that have yet to be built on — have a number that can be plugged into the system.

"That way when there is new development there is sufficient numbering on the road so they can stay in sequence," he explained.

Selectmen will use the 50-foot interval system to assign and notify property-owners of their new addresses.

Under E911 all primary buildings on the left side of the street will have odd numbers, while those on the right will be assigned even ones.

Buildings or homes with extensive road frontage will be assigned a number based on the location of their driveway.

The ordinance will require owners to affix their newly assigned street numbers to their buildings so they are clearly visible. Residents owning buildings not clearly visible from the road will be required to post the new numbers at the point of entry to the property.

The ordinance orders numbers to be displayed in "block style lettering" and assigns violations and fees for those who fail to comply. The ordinance also details where the numbering is to be displayed on buildings.

Officials say the establishing of a uniform addressing system will benefit the town in a variety of ways.

Among the more important benefits will be the advantage it gives emergency responders in targeting victims who call 911.

Under the current system a lack of standardized numbers requires emergency responders to rely heavily on their personal knowledge of the area and a caller’s directions.

Goodwin said that the new system will allow them to pinpoint the location of a building whose occupant has called 911.

He said callers will be able to give their new address information to the dispatcher who can forward it to those actually responding to the call for service.

The E911 ordinance will also benefit the process by which mail is delivered by providing for a more consistent system.

Under the current system town addresses may include rural route numbers that can make addresses complex and confusing.

Town Postmaster Daniel Wolkovich said addresses are not always marked well. He pointed out that a lack of a standardized numbering system also results in some addresses including such designations as "a", "b", "c" and more.

"Right now there is every mismatched address in the universe out there," he said.

The new E911 ordinance will allow mail carriers to follow a logically sequenced numbering system that will require numbers to be prominently displayed on homes and mailboxes.

"It should make quite a difference," said Wolkovich.

The establishment of the E911 ordinance will require the changing of names for some similarly named roads in town. It will also require the formal naming of all the town’s fire lanes that house occupied dwellings.

Selectmen, who have yet to undertake that process, are considering naming the fire lanes after town residents who died fighting for their country.

Chairman James Washburn suggested that the town acquire a list of such individuals from the Veterans of Foreign Wars(VFW) and the American Legion.

He asked the board to consider looking into naming the fire lanes after deceased veterans who lived near them.

Although officials are aiming at having the new addressing system officially in place by mid-October, they say the process should take months to complete.

Town Administrator Russell Bailey said selectmen will be notifying residents of their new addresses by letter sometime in the first two weeks of October.

The post office will still be delivering mail to both addresses to allow for changes to work themselves out.

Residents will also be given time to adhere to the new display requirement of the addresses before any violations are issued.

"This isn’t going to happen overnight. It’s going to take some time," said Bailey.