Last week a group of Lewis County officials and residents met with representatives of Verizon to learn about installing Basic 911 telephone service in the community.

Twenty-two attended the meeting. Judge Executive George Plummer and Vanceburg Mayor William T. Cooper, along with Sheriff Bill Lewis, PVA Betty Ripato, Third District Magistrate Tim Underwood, Emergency Management Director Carl Chaney and personnel from the ambulance service and local fire departments were among those present.

Tom Sturtevant, senior sales engineer for 911, and Douglas Treen, corporate account manager for Verizon, represented the phone company.

Sturtevant explained the difference between Basic 911 and Enhanced 911 services.

He said that 911 is universally recognized in the US and Canada as the way to contact law enforcement, fire and emergency management personnel in times of crises.

Sturtevant said that Basic 911 has voice only. The caller has to talk to the dispatcher and give all the pertinent information needed for emergency workers to find the location where help is need. At that point, the dispatcher has to decide which rescue service can best meet the caller's need. That may take a little time. As required by law, it will also provide a telecommunications device for the deaf.

Six phone lines will be coming into the Lewis County Detention Center. Two each will come from Garrison, Tollesboro and Vanceburg. One of those lines serves as a backup in case someone accidentally disables a line.

Personnel from the PVA office are currently performing mapping duties in order to implement the GPS system. Their work will be tabulated with the mapping being done by the Buffalo Trace Area Development District and the post office to create a master street address guide and an old to new addressing scheme.

As for the cost, Sturtevant explained that for Basic 911 some funds from the county general fund would pay for it because it is fairly inexpensive.

To install the lines for Basic 911 would require a one-time charge of $860.97. Monthly payments for all six lines would be $432.90. The two necessary TDD machines cost $1,982.58 installed with $286.28 two-year maintenance cost, for a total of $2,268.86.

For Enhanced 911, Kentucky allows counties to levy a fee on the 911 bill that the phone companies collect and remit to the counties to pay for the service. He said that in the Commonwealth he has seen fees as low as 26 cents up to $2.75 and everything in between. Kevin Cornette from BTADD said their figures show that a fee of about $2.00 on each telephone line would be required to finance Enhanced 911 in Lewis County because of the size of the tax base. Enhanced 911 would also take wireless phone calls. Right now those calls go to the Kentucky State Police.

Enhanced 911 would cost from $2,000 to $4,000 per month after an estimated cost of $150,000 for equipment and $10,000 for installation.

Cornette pointed out that Lewis County has 9,200 households but only $5,504 phone subscribers. He said that indicates nearly 50 percent of the homes do not have telephone service.

Meeting in regular session last week, Lewis County Fiscal Court heard two major pleas from the public.

Betty Secrest asked the court if it had some way to obtain a grant to repair and preserve the Cabin Creek Covered Bridge.

Judge Executive George Plummer told Secrest that the subject had been discussed. He said that the court would contact Amy Kennedy at Buffalo Trace Area Development District to see if any funds are available for that purpose. Plummer also offered to contact State Representative Robin Webb and State Senator Charlie Borders about preserving the bridge.

Third District Magistrate Tim Underwood presented a petition with about 600 signatures asking that something be done to improve the ambulance service in the county.

Underwood said the delay did not cause McClurg's death but that a delay like that in a life and death situation could be crucial.

Court Clerk Bob Blaine said that his father was recently ill and the ambulance arrived in about three minutes after the call was placed.

Plummer explained that the fiscal court has no authority over the ambulance service because it is licensed and regulated by the state. He accepted the petition and said that it would be passed on to the proper authorities.

The voice on the phone asked, "Are you Donna Osborne?"

Donna replied, "Yes, I am."

The caller continued, "Are you the Donna Osborne that ran the ad in the Louisa paper?"

Again Donna answered, "Yes, I am."

The unfamiliar voice said, "I think we're your aunt and uncle."

So ended the 64-year search of Imogene King Werline's family to find her brother, Bill King.

Imogene and her five siblings were orphaned when their mother died of cancer. At the time, Billy was only three-weeks-old and Imogene was four-years-old.

Imogene had a twin sister named Emogene, who had lived in Williamson, West Virginia and passed away about five years ago.

Imogene and her family had tried every avenue they could come up with to find one of the brothers or sisters, especially baby brother Billy. They tried search services, the Internet, and even some TV talk shows that specialize in family reunions of this sort. Nothing was successful.

Finally, daughter Donna Osborne learned that Louisa had a newspaper. She wrote a letter to the editor that was run on January 28. One of Bill's cousins saw the letter and called him and wife, Deaun. With the phone number provided from the letter to the editor, Aunt Dee made the call on February 1.

Bill called and told Imogene that he would be in the next weekend. He called back and said, "I'm coming tomorrow."

Siblings Bill King and Imogene Werline were reunited recently after being separated for 64 years. The two were orphaned after their mother died. Mrs. Werline is continuing the search for other siblings.

Bill's grown son, Jason, 33, who has two boys of his own, walked over to his newly found Aunt Imogene and, grinning from ear to ear, gave her a big and genuinely affectionate hug. He said that he had first and second cousins and all of his life had called them his aunts and uncles. With tears of emotion he said, "Now I have a real aunt and uncle."

Imogene said that the feelings experienced when she first met her brother were indescribable.

"I had given up," she offered. "I never though I would see him."

At the time of this interview, the reunited had known each other for only four weeks. Aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, and cousins were getting acquainted. They all said that the love and bonding were instant. They felt like they had known each other for years.

The next step for Imogene and Bill is to find older brother Jimmy King if he's still living. They have two other sisters but don't even know their names or where they were placed from the orphanage. However, they plan to check the records from the home and see if they can find out about their adoptions and at least get their names. The search will continue.

With the first day of Spring coming up Wednesday, can Spring Cleanup be far behind?

John Teager, coordinator for solid waste management in Lewis County, said the cleanup for Vanceburg and Lewis County has been scheduled for March 25 through 29.

During that time, residents may dispose of appliances and tires at no cost. The dates coincide with Commonwealth Cleanup Week, an effort to clean up some of the estimated 10,000 illegal dumps in Kentucky.

The items may be dropped off at the recycling center located two miles west of Vanceburg on Ky. Rt. 3037 behind Edward's Used Car lot. Hours are 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. each day.

Teager said a no cost pickup service is available for disabled and senior citizens. He noted that the appliances must be outside of the residence before it can be picked up.

Residents outside the Vanceburg city limits should call 796-0624 to schedule a pick up. Vanceburg residents should call 796-3044 to arrange a pickup.