Georgetown, Del., Jan. 30, 2007: Sussex County is closing in on the final stages of its project to assign more than 127,000 homes and businesses new, more specific addresses, making it easier for police, fire and medical crews to find those locations in an emergency.

Officials from the Sussex County Mapping & Addressing Division, as well as from the County Assessment Department, told members of Sussex County Council this morning, Tuesday, Jan. 30, that the last address changes for residences will be mailed in the next few days. The letters are for homeowners in the Sea Colony East community near Bethany Beach, the last community in the County to be re-addressed.

The arrival of those letters in mailboxes will mark the end of a 10-year effort by Sussex County to re-assign new addresses for every home and business. The new addresses, usually a five-digit numerical coupled with a street or road name, replace the more vague and difficult-to-find rural route mailing addresses that Sussex Countians have used for decades.

Those rural route addresses, such as RR 1 Box 123, are difficult for emergency personnel to find because they do not indicate a physical location or a point on a map.

“We’re pleased to be able to complete this project and deliver to the public an enhanced system for locating homes and businesses when citizens are in need,” said County Administrator David B. Baker. “With a county that is more than 900 square miles in size and approximately 127,000 locations to be re-addressed, it’s easy to see the challenges and time-consuming work this has involved.”

County officials said the project is critical to improved public safety, which is increasingly important as new residents move in and the landscape of Sussex County evolves.

“It’s imperative for emergency responders to be able to find homes and businesses when time is of the essence, when seconds and minutes can be the difference between life and death,” said Donna Pusey, supervisor of the 911 addressing project within the Mapping & Addressing Division. “We are hopeful the public is aware of that, and will verify their new addresses with our office and their telephone company, and then most importantly, display their new addresses for emergency responders to see.”

In an effort to reinforce the project’s importance, Assessment Director Eddy Parker said Sussex County this spring will launch an awareness campaign in the form of public service announcements. The County also will mail out reminder cards to any property owners and residents who have not verified their 911 addressing information, Mr. Parker said.

“We want to make sure the public is fully aware of the re-addressing project and we want them to understand how their participation is essential in making it a success,” Mr. Parker said.

Specifically, property owners who receive new 911 addresses must:

• First, immediately verify the information printed on the letter and send it back to Sussex County Mapping & Addressing. Property owners can do this by simply filling out the form at the bottom of the enclosed letter, making sure to include the old address, the new physical address supplied by the County and the landline telephone number at that location. That information then must be mailed back to Sussex County. Anyone who has not received a letter, has misplaced it since the first letters went out in 2001 or cannot remember verifying their property’s information should immediately contact the Mapping & Addressing Division at (302) 855-1176;
• Contact the telephone company that provides service to that location to report a physical address change. Make sure the telephone company is aware that the new county-issued 911 address is the physical location of the property. The address may not be the same as the billing address for the monthly telephone service. It’s important for the telephone service provider to know the difference;
• Lastly, display the new address in a conspicuous location on the property. For more information on how to do this, follow this link --sussexcountyde.gov/posting-911-address.

Sussex County needs 95 percent or more of the homes and businesses within the County to have a verified 911 address and telephone number for the Enhanced 911 system to work properly. This enhanced system displays a physical address on a dispatcher’s computer screen when a 911 call comes from the telephone number associated with that address, Ms. Pusey said. So far, 54 percent of homes and businesses within the County have matching information.

“As you can see, we still have a way to go in educating the public of the need to verify their information with us and their telephone company,” Ms. Pusey said.

Residents and property owners with questions, or who want to verify that their 911 address information is correct and up to date, can contact Ms. Pusey’s office at (302) 855-1176.