City apologies for dozens of letters sent in error

Friday, July 20, 2007

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

Nevada Public Safety Director Gary Herstein said a recent letter sent to homeowners informing them of the need to post street numbers on their property was meant to help fire, police and emergency medical personnel find the location where their services were required. It wasn't meant to intimidate or offend anyone, he added.

"I've got to apologize to the people who have received these notices in error," Herstein said. "We were working off of a list provided by the meter readers and, in some cases, they evidently didn't look hard enough to see the residents were in compliance."

More than 500 letters were sent out and Herstein said that the public safety department had received numerous complaints.

"We sent out a little over 500 letters and so far we've gotten about 30 or 35 complaints from people who say they've got the numbers up," Herstein said. "Anyone who received the letter in error should just disregard it and throw it away."

Herstein said the addresses were compiled while the meter readers were doing their regular daily activities and no one was taken away from regular duties to look for homes and businesses that didn't have numbers on their property.

"I have to come to the defense of the meter readers," Herstein said. "They were out there doing their regular job and they were under a time constraint to finish. We didn't send anyone around specifically to look for non-compliance."

The push to get street numbers on every home and business is part of the preparations for the new enhanced 911 system.

"We're putting together the new 911 system and it is important for the emergency personnel to be able to get to the right address without wasting time," Herstein said. "There have been cases where someone went out looking for an address and there was a house on one side that had numbers and several houses in a row that didn't have numbers and on the other side a house with numbers and the address they were looking for was one of the ones in between that didn't have a number. Officers had to knock on the door and ask if it was the right place."

Herstein said that after reviewing city buildings he plans to put new numbers on the public safety building itself.

"Since this came up, I've decided to put new numbers on the police department itself," Herstein said. "I looked at the ones we have up now and you can't see them from the road."

Herstein has two sets of numbers on his personal residence, one on the house and one a lighted sign.

"Not only do I have numbers on my house I have a solar-powered sign that has a black background with the numbers in white," Herstein said.

Herstein said that there are many places that are in compliance but would be better served by adding an extra set of numbers where they would be plainly visible from the street.

"Some of the addresses comply but you still can't see them from the road," Herstein said. "That's what people have to think about. When it rains and snows can someone see it when seconds count It's a safety factor so that if they call we can get back to them in a timely manner.?"

Herstein said he could understand why people might think it isn't important whether their numbers are visible but said that when the time comes to respond to an emergency seconds matter and having the street number plainly visible might save a life.

"It's a little thing that people don't think about," Herstein said. "But when it's needed, it's needed."

Herstein emphasized that the city was just trying to serve the citizens of Nevada as best they could and were using the letters more to educate the public than anything else.

"That's why the fire chief sent the letter out," Herstein said. "We didn't want people to see a letter coming from the police department and get concerned about it."

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