Phone fee for 911 continues

Telephone customers in Potter County will continue to pay a $1.50 fee to help cover the county’s emergency services dispatch system, provided on a contract basis by Tioga County.

The Pa. Public Utility Commission approved continuing the $1.50 per line fee into 2007 last week. Telephone companies servicing about 10,800 Potter County lines include Verizon, Verizon North and Frontier Telephone Company, as well as several competitive local exchange carriers.

These local companies collect the fee for the counties, under the Pa. Public Emergency Telephone Act of 1990. It’s part of a statewide 9-1-1 emergency communication system administered by the Pa. Emergency Management Agency.

The Tioga County dispatch center, located in Wellsboro,

fields 9-1-1 calls 24 hours a day. Professionally trained dispatchers communicate by radio to Potter County fire, ambulance and police agencies.