911 now controls addresses

Wilson County 911 is taking control of property numbering.

As of Wednesday, property owners no longer get address numbers from their local municipalities.

The Wilson County Emergency Communications District has been responsible for issuing address numbers for properties outside Lebanon, Mt. Juliet and Watertown for the last 20 years, but a new agreement between Wilson County 911 and the municipalities’ legislative bodies grants full numbering authority to Wilson County 911.

The municipalities will maintain control of naming streets within their cities’ limits.

“We not going to go back and do any wholesale changes to the current numbers,” said J.R. Kelley, director of Wilson County 911.  “As long as the [municipality’s] schema is consistent, we’re not going to do any wholesale changes just to conform to our schema.”

As part of the agreement, Lebanon, Mt. Juliet and Watertown will not issue any building permits or provide utility services until property owners contact Wilson County 911 to get an address number.

Kelley said any street number corrections for existing properties will also be handled by Wilson County 911, although property owners are not required to make those corrections.

“We realize that a lot of people have spent quite a bit of money on nice mailboxes with numbers printed on them, on checks and business cards – that sort of thing,” said Kelley.

The additional responsibility for Wilson County 911 will not require additional staff, according to Kelley.

“We were already recording all the numbers, we were just getting them from the cities,” said Kelley.

Emergency responders rely on the Wilson County 911 address information when going to emergency situations. If the house number is an even number, but it’s on the same side of the street as odd numbers, responders may spend valuable time looking for the correct house.

“We’ve even had cases where developments were being made – there were even ribbon cuttings on new businesses – and we didn’t even know they existed,” said Kelley. “If there had been a medical situation at one of those businesses, we would not have had a way to direct emergency services.”

Even if the address number is correct and matches the 911 system, though, property owners still need to ensure that the address number is apparent.

“Everyone should make sure their property number is clearly displayed at the entrance to their property on the mailbox or a signpost, and if it’s going to be on their house, make sure it’s visible from the road and clearly seen,” said Kelly. “It doesn’t help to have a number if it’s not displayed…There’s no truer statement than ‘seconds mean lives.’”

For more information, call Wilson County 911 at 615-449-7155 or visit wilson911.org.

Staff writer Sara McManamy-Johnson can be reached at 615-444-3952, ext. 16 or sjohnson@lebanondemocrat.com.