MONTICELLO - Sullivan County officials, who were hoping to have the new "911" emergency calling system in place before the summer season began, are now growing a bit concerned.

Project coordinator Kevin Karn last week told the legislature's public safety committee that the system has been ready for five weeks and awaiting the telephone company's completion of testing before announcing that the system is ready. "I would have thought that by now we wouldn't be having this conversation anymore... It's a data-base issue," he said. The highest possible percentage of telephone numbers and address information data must match up before the phone company signs off, he said. "They're working nights, weekends and holidays to get it done... It's not in our hands. It's in Bell's hands," he added.

With Memorial Day just over three weeks away, Karn said he still hopes to have the system "live" before summer. "[Bell] has to be reminded about the significant population increase we have in the summer months," he said.