E-911 Addressing Officer

   

What are the duties of the Addressing Officer?

  1. Approving and providing correct road name and number range information to the Emergency Services Communications Bureau.
  2. Resolving any discrepancies that arise with any addressing information in the Enhanced 9-1-1 databases.
  3. Notifying the Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems and VERIZON when a road is added, extended, closed or renamed.
  4. Maintain the official Phippsburg emergency road data maps that are provided by Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems.
  5. Answer citizens questions regarding addressing.
  6. Monitor development activities with the Planning Board and Codes Enforcement Officer.
  7. Calculate and issue property numbers.
  8. Maintain and publish the Phippsburg Road Directory. Distribute the Directory to both local and mutual aid emergency responders.
  9. Order and install road name signs as necessary.

 

What is an emergency 9-1-1- call?
A telephone request for public safety agency emergency services which requires immediate action to save a life, to report a fire, or stop a crime.

What is Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1)?
An improved emergency communication system which automatically displays the address and phone number of a caller at a call answering center known as a Public Safety Answering Point (emergency dispatching center). The instant that an emergency call is received the dispatcher can see the address of the telephone used to make the call and the name of the person/business to which the telephone is listed.

Why does Phippsburg have an Addressing Officer and who appoints the person?
The State Emergency Services Communications Bureau requires that every municipality appoint an Addressing Officer to be the contact for the municipality for all matters pertaining to E9-1-1 data. The Board of Selectmen appoints the Addressing Officer.

I live in the first house on the road, why is my number "26"?
Nearly all roads in Phippsburg are addressed on a 50 foot interval starting at the beginning of the road. A building assigned the number 26 is about 600 to 650 from the beginning of the road on the left (if your house was on the right, the number would be 25).

Why are there so many roads in Phippsburg?
Prior to 1996 there were only a few. roads in town with official names. When statewide preparation for E9-1-1 began the Maine Emergency Services Communication Bureau issued the following guidelines for the addressing process:

  • Any road or way with two or more buildings must have an official town name.
  • Road names must be unique.
  • Buildings are to be numbered at 50-foot intervals (or at smaller intervals in densely populated areas like Wallace Circle in West Point).
  • Left side buildings are even numbers and right side are odd.
  • The "two or more buildings" guideline immediately created roads from what were considered driveways. When the initial road inventory was completed in late 1995 the number of named roads