News from neighbors
Texting 911 now an option in emergencies
STERLING JOURNAL-ADVOCATE, Nov. 16 — The Sterling City Council learned Tuesday night that the Sterling Emergency Communications Center is offering a new way for the public to reach them in an emergency.
Valicia Lybrand, SECC director, reported on the implementation of a new text-to-911 service that allows people to send a text message using their cellphones to the emergency dispatchers. The service is being provided courtesy of Logan County E911 Authority Board, she noted.
The service has been live for several weeks and has already been used on a couple of calls, she told them.
Lybrand said calling the comm center is the preferred method of communicating, as voice calls can be processed more quickly and result in help arriving sooner. However, texting enables dispatchers to help those who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability without the use of an interpreter.
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Buffalo Hills sale gets ‘yes’ vote
STERLING JOURNAL-ADVOCATE, Nov. 14 — The City of Sterling may have a buyer for the Buffalo Hills Marketplace property on the east side of Interstate 76.
At their meeting Tuesday night, the Sterling City Council voted 7-0 in favor of selling two parcels totaling about 42 acres to Sterling-based Colorado Retail Venture Services for $136,000. CRVS owns the two Eagle convenience stores in Sterling as well as other stores located in Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas.
The contract also provides the City the first right of refusal to purchase the company’s property on E. Chestnut St. for the next 20 years.
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Sedgwick wells spared from being double-billed
STERLING JOURNAL-ADVOCATE, Nov. 13 — Owners of 12 so-called “gap wells” in Sedgwick County won’t be double-billed for being in two augmentation plans thanks to an agreement in the works with the Republican River Water Conservation District.
Left unanswered is the question of whether the wells would have to be curtailed if the Republican District is required to shut down its wells.
Joe Frank, manager of the Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District, told his board of directors Tuesday that the Republican District has met with the Sedgwick County well owners to discuss an agreement that would prevent them from having to pay the per-acre fee to that district as long as they’re included in another augmentation plan. Eleven of the wells are in the LSPWCD’s augmentation plan, and the 12th well is in another plan.
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