ST. JOSEPH &045; When in Tensas Parish, don’t call 911 &045; it won’t do you any good.

That’s not a knock on the law enforcement officers and fire fighters in the parish; it’s just that Tensas doesn’t have an E-911 system.

Tensas, Catahoula and Red River are the only parishes in Louisiana that still lack a 911 system, but Tensas is coming closer than ever to changing that.

A new USDA Rural Development Grant of $100,000, announced recently by Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, will go towards construction of the new center.

&uot;Implementing a 911 service for the residents of Tensas Parish is a must,&uot; Alexander said. &uot;This grant will help Tensas Parish achieve that goal.&uot;

A $100,000 loan and $50,000 in Tensas Parish money will be used with the grant to build the dispatch center, Rick Foster said. Foster, who heads the Tensas Parish Office of Emergency Management, is heading up a committee to make the 911 center a reality.

Currently, instead of dialing 911, local residents in need of emergency assistance call a seven-digit local number (766-3961 in St. Joseph and 749-3275 in Waterproof) to reach a 24-hour dispatching center at the Tensas Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Tensas has a 24-hour central dispatching center through the sheriff’s office, but the new 911 center will have some definite advantages over the current system, Foster said.

&uot;When the call comes in, there will be a display showing the number and the name,&uot; Foster said. &uot;Eventually we’ll have equipment that will show a map of their location for the dispatcher as well.&uot;

The advantages should allow first responders to arrive at the scene more quickly and lessen confusion.

&uot;It’s just the technology, but it’s expensive technology,&uot; Foster said.

Tensas officials have been working for years to get the 911 center going, but the trouble has come in trying to find a way to pay for the new equipment, new building and staff to run it.

Tensas has a population of about 6,000 and a correspondingly small tax base from which to pay for the 911 system. The only continuous source of money for the fund comes from a phone use fee &045;&160;$0.45 a month per land line and $0.85 per cell phone line &045;&160;that provides about $3,000 a month.

The rest of the funds for the building of the new center and purchase of equipment come from grants, like the $100,000 the USDA just gave. A Homeland Security grant has already been secured to pay for the new equipment once the building is in place.

&uot;It takes quite a while to come up with the money to build the building, buy the equipment and hire the person,&uot; Tensas tax assessor Irby Gamble, also on 911 committee, said. &uot;But hopefully before the end of the year we can put out bids for the building.&uot;