What are those "Little Blue Signs All About ?

We've received several calls regarding the numbered blue signs going up all around the Township. These are part of the "911" emergency system. They have been going up all around Scott  County all summer. Their purpose is to assist ambulances, police and fire vehicles in locating residences in need of service. In talking to one of the Sheriff's deputies, the comment was made "that you wouldn't believe the difficulty in locating addresses in an emergency situation because of missing numbers, hard to read numbers, mis-located numbers, etc when driving down a street at 40-50 miles per hour trying to find a house where a heart attack is going on." This system will lead to consistency and vastly improve response time.

Next time you travel in out state Minnesota, take note of other counties who have done the same thing. It's a very positive thing 

I also thought it would be informative to reprint an article that appeared recently in the Scott County Scene

     

 THE SCENE

As the number of residences in rural Scott County continues to grow, Scott County’s responsibility to provide emergency services also grows.  The Scott County Sheriff’s Office has the responsibility to provide police protection, and also dispatch police, fire and medical personnel to this rapidly growing county, including the unincorporated areas.  Often times address numerals installed by homeowners on their mailbox, used to identify properties in the rural areas, are difficult for emergency personnel to read, are only visible from one direction, not reflective, and inconsistent from house to house.

This causes a potential delay for emergency responders.  Early in 2000, a Scott County District Court jury ruled that Allina Health Systems ambulance’s inability to locate the home of a couple in rural Scott County during a 911 emergency call amounted to negligence on the company’s part and that Allina should pay damages totaling $11.1 million.  Scott County was also named in the original suit, but was dismissed.

Scott County’s solution to better identify rural addresses is to install Residential Address Markers at the entrance to each property.  The signs have been installed in numerous other counties throughout the State.  These signs are not like the old fire numbers.  The 911 Address Marker is your actual house number, that will be visible from both directions,  8” x 18” in size, installed on an 8’ or 10’ post, printed on highly reflective blue metal  with white lettering. 

In September of 2001, the Scott County Board gave the Community Development department their approval to implement the 911 Address Marker Project.  Bids for a contractor to manufacture and install the signs went out in March, and in April, the company, M/T Buckets Painting out of Montgomery, was awarded the bid. 

Beginning in early June, the installation of the 911 Sign Markers will begin.  The local utility companies, including electric, telephone and cable, will be flagging their locations in the road right-of-ways.  The contractor will then come along and install a post and sign in the right-of-way, on the same side of the road as the homeowner’s driveway. 

The contractor will be placing the sign in a specific area for maximum visibility by emergency vehicles.  Scott County Addressing Coordinator, Lyn Rohe, would like to remind each homeowner that the maintenance of the sign will be the homeowner’s responsibility, and to keep the sign free from any obstructions.  Tampering, removing or altering the 911 Address Marker in any way will be considered a Petty Misdemeanor under the updated Uniform Addressing Ordinance.  If a homeowner’s sign gets damaged or knocked over, the Scott County Highway department will replace the sign for a fee.

If you currently have one of the old Fire Number signs on your property, you may destroy it.