WEST FRANKFORT - City officials have agreed to pay the costs for a software package that was erroneously purchased for their use.

"Basically, the Franklin County Joint Emergency Telephone Systems Board or the 911 board, many years back, made an error when they purchased $70,000 to $100,000 in software," Mike Dinn, police chief and chairman of the Franklin County Joint Emergency Telephone Systems Board, recently told city council members.

The board purchased software for all Franklin County dispatch centers, including the West Frankfort Police Department, planning to use 911 funding to buy it. What they didn't realize at the time was that this particular brand of software. With the software bought and installed, council members had to decide whether to continue paying non-911 funds to maintain the software.

Dinn said the money spent through the 911 funds must be used for specific purchases, which does not include the pricey Emergitech software called INTERBADge.

"I would hope the council would allow me to maintain that software," he said.

Council members agreed to paying the continued maintenance fee to keep the software active. Dinn noted that maintaining the software was significantly cheaper than buying a new product.

Franklin County 911 Director Rick Basso said the monthly cost is about $262.

tara.fasol@thesouthern

351-5824