Board Expected to Approve New 9-1-1 Backup

Should the village’s emergency phone system fail, the city of McHenry would get Lake in the Hills’ rerouted 9-1-1 calls, according to an agreement village trustees are expected to approve Thursday night.

The police dispatch at Marengo was Lake in the Hills' backup, but because of the pending contract for Lake in the Hills to take over dispatch services for the city of Marengo, another backup had to be found.

James Wales, the village’s director of public safety, told trustees that a Lake in the Hills dispatcher would travel to the McHenry Police Department to field emergency calls should the village’s dispatch service go offline.

An intergovermental agreement was signed March 10. A trustee vote Thursday will formalize the document.

Trustee Bob Huckins at a committee meeting Tuesday evening called the measure “another level of backup.”

Trustee Paul Mulcahy pointed out the reason why such a back-up system is needed. For four days in Feburary, the village's 9-1-1 service was knocked out by a flood. The village's dispatch is located in the basement of the , 1115 Crystal Lake Road.

In other board action, trustees are also expected to renew a lease for its sole red-light camera at the Randall Road-Acorn Lane intersection Thursday. 

The contract calls for an “equipment upgrade” with the village continuing to pay Georgia-based LaserCraft Inc. $4,495 a month for the lease.

Also a part of the contract, should the red-light service be renewed next year, is an increase in the monthly payment, which is in line with inflation.