Talk of changes to street signs irks some in Glenburn

GLENBURN – In an effort to assist emergency rescue crews responding to 911 calls, the town wants to change the names of four streets, all of which contain the word “Pine.”

The issue dates back to 2001 when rescue crews arrived at a Glenburn residence with a similar street name and identical house number but no emergency. The Town Council received input from residents at Thursday night’s meeting “so that we don’t have an emergency and have the crews show up in the wrong place,” Chairman Mark Lagasse said.

The streets under consideration are: Pine Grove Avenue, Pine Hill Drive, Pine View Avenue and Pine Acres Way. Other similar names may become an issue but aren’t being considered for change at this time.

Residents expressed that it’s not the street names that need to be changed but that dispatchers need a different procedure to follow when directing crews where to go.

They need to have explicit directions at their fingertips, Arthur Fish of Pine Acres Way said.

“We’ve listened to tapes where it was given as one address, but [dispatchers] gave directions to another address,” Town Manager Carl Betterley said.

When a dispatcher receives a 911 call, the caller identification system provides them with the originating phone number, name on the address and physical location but offers no directions.

“That’s a flawed system right up front,” Fish said.

The problem isn’t limited to Glenburn, but is an issue that is and has been addressed statewide.

“It’s when you have ‘Pines’ down here, and ‘Pines’ across town that you have a problem,” Betterley said.

The town provided Glenburn rescue crews, as well as Penobscot Regional Dispatch, with a notebook that lists each address in town and who lives there, Betterley said. But it’s not always easy to take the time to look, especially when dispatchers often are dealing with more than one call at a time.

“You’ve got to simplify it as much as possible,” Bob Bilotta, a Glenburn resident and Bangor firefighter, said. He added that when going out on a call at night with lights and sirens going, it’s nearly impossible to read a notebook and find an address. In addition, radio communication isn’t dependable everywhere in the area and radios sometimes don’t work to communicate with a dispatcher once a rescue vehicle is on its way.

After hearing input from the public, the council decided to schedule a visit to regional dispatch to learn about their system.

“A picture’s worth a thousand words,” Betterley said, agreeing that it would be a good next step before placing the issue on a meeting agenda again.

“I think just so everyone knows, the primary concern is safety and that’s what it all boils down to,” Council member R. Blake Fryer Jr. said.