The Board of Aldermen also approved the interlocal agreement for the countywide E-911 consolidation in a tie vote that was broken by Mayor Rossie Creel.

Board members Shirley Wiltshire and Russell Miller voted in favor of the interlocal agreement, along with Creel. Board members Kevin Tillman and Anne Smith voted against the agreement. Board member Tony Smith was not present for Tuesday’s meeting.

Smith said she voted against the decision because she still has concerns about whether Agisent, the vendor who will provide a records management system, will be able to deliver the software needed in time for the police department to be compliant with federal reporting requirements.

Creel said he has faith in the vendors chosen by the county.

All of the Board members agreed that the consolidation overall is a good idea. Smith said the new equipment and software for the consolidated dispatch will save lives.

The agreement will consolidate the county, Picayune and Poplarville dispatch services in to one location and includes the purchase of CAD, a jail management system and a records management system through CommSouth. CommSouth will work with other vendors to provide the software and equipment to local law enforcement. That will include purchasing a jail management system from BluHorse, a record management system from Agisent and software and hardware for call taking, mapping and CAD from Zetron.

The Pearl River County Board of Supervisors previously signed the agreement with Poplarville, but the Poplarville Board of Aldermen had concerns about the agreement so it has since been rewritten, according to previous coverage.

The rewritten agreement caps the amount that the city of Poplarville would contribute to pay dispatcher salaries at $50,000. Poplarville will be responsible for 7 percent of dispatcher salaries, or up to $50,000.

The city would pay Agisent $8,276 directly and pay the county the rest of the costs for purchasing and maintaining equipment. Creel said Agisent was named specifically so that the police department could use grant funding to cover that cost. The grant funds cannot be paid to another government body.

Under the rewritten agreement, the county will reimburse the city of Poplarville the $8,276 if the Poplarville Police Department determines it cannot use the records management system to become NIBRS compliant.

The Poplarville Board of Aldermen had previously decided to purchase a records management system from a different vendor, because Police Chief Danny Collier believed it would suit the department’s needs and fulfill the requirements for a Justice Department grant that the police department has been awarded.

Collier also said he did not realize a records management system was included in the consolidation plan, according to previous coverage.

At the last regular meeting, the Board of Aldermen rescinded that decision. The other vendor would have been more expensive.

Creel also told the Board he had been informed by County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin that the county would increase the cost of housing Poplarville’s inmates at the county jail if the city did not use the records management vendor chosen by the county. Smith said she understood that the cost of housing inmates would be increased if the city did not join on the overall consolidation.

The city of Poplarville receives a reduced rate of $20 per day for housing an inmate.

Lumpkin said he does not recall saying that the county would increase charges to Poplarville for housing the city’s inmates and to his knowledge there has been no discussion of that matter. He said he did discuss the agreement for housing Poplarville inmates because the city of Picayune is considering using the county jail to house inmates as well.

Lumpkin said if Poplarville had used a different records management system than the county and the city of Picayune, it would not have been an issue for the county, but believes it would have added costs for the city of Poplarville.

Lumpkin said Agisent is completing tests of its software to ensure that reports can be submitted to the state, and said the Sheriff’s Department and Picayune Police Department have been involved in choosing vendors for the consolidation.

“There’s no way I would recommend the Board of Supervisors spend an investment like this if I did not feel like it was going to be 100 percent compliant,” said Lumpkin.