By Erin Fuchs
The Chattanooga Times Free Press
DALTON, Ga. — Nearly every day, Whitfield County emergency workers struggle to locate people in trouble, said Fire Chief Carl Collins.
“You waste a lot of time looking” for the emergencies, he said.
Whitfield County is launching its address-location project today to fix this problem.
The yearlong project will find Global Positioning System, or GPS, locations for every structure in Whitfield County. Then, the county will change duplicate or confusing addresses to avoid uncertainty during emergency responses, when time is short.
“The sole reason behind this project is safety,” county Zoning Administrator Jean Garland said.
Still, county officials acknowledged that asking some people to change their addresses could elicit protests.
“It’s going to be a touchy subject,” said Brooke Bennett, spokeswoman for Dalton and Whitfield County.
But she pointed out that not every address will change. Furthermore, the county will assist residents whose addresses change.
“We’re not going to slap a new number on your mailbox and say, ‘Have a great day,’” she said.
Whitfield County resident Larry Stewart, 59, predicted that lots of county residents will gripe about address changes.
People around here tend to “resist any kind of change, period” he said.
But, Mr. Stewart added, “They would change their mind if they were lying there dying of a heart attack and people couldn’t find their house.”
County commissioners approved the $501,531 project in December. At the time, Commissioner Greg Jones said the county shouldn’t spend so freely during tough economic times. Mr. Jones still objects to spending the money.
But, driving across the county, he said he sees how rescue workers can’t find houses. For instance, he said some houses share one driveway with several mailboxes at the end.
“There’s no way of knowing which house is which,” Mr. Jones said.
Fast facts
Starting today, representatives from the engineering firm GeoComm will start recording addresses. They’ll be knocking on some doors to survey residents, wearing uniforms, and driving GeoComm vehicles.