Emergency Communications (911) Division

In an emergency, seconds count. Precious time can be wasted trying to locate an unmarked house. Help your local emergency service providers by displaying your house number.

• House numbers should be displayed on the building, or in front of it, in a prominent and conspicuous place and in such manner as to be legible from the street.
• All numbers should be at least 3 inches in height, and be located approximately 4 feet above the ground.
• The colors of said numbers should be in sharp contrast to the color of their background.
• When practical, the numbers should be placed near a light so that they may be readily seen at night. If the numbers are not illuminated, they should be reflective.
• The street number must be visible from both directions.
• If the house is more than 75 feet from the roadway, the number should be displayed on a post or mailbox, no farther than 25 feet from the edge of the street, and on the same side of the street as the house.
• In the event that more than one house has access from a single driveway, the number of the house must be displayed at each location at which the driveway diverges, in addition to being displayed on the house.

Pursuant to Article 4, Section 64, Subsection 9 of New York State Town Law, each municipality has the legal authority to name streets and issues addresses. This responsibility has been entrusted to different offices of town government in each town. Following is a list of the points of contact in each municipality.

It is important to remember that your telephone service address and billing address may not be the same. Even though your phone bill is getting to your correct mailing address, it is vital that you update your service address with your local telephone company. Your service address may be updated by calling:

• Frontier Communications - 783-1400
• Margaretville Telephone - 586-3311
• Verizon - 1-800-Verizon (837-4966)

It is the service address that is displayed to the 911 dispatcher when you make an emergency call. This is the physical location of your phone. The dispatcher will verify the location displayed on his computer screen to ensure that this is where help is needed.

Pursuant to Resolution 233 August 8, 1991 of the Ulster County Legislature, designating the Ulster County Real Property Tax Service Agency (RPTSA) as administrator of the Right-of-Way Naming Act and authorizing it to coordinate activities among various agencies, departments and municipalities, the following procedures for naming roads in Ulster County are established. 

• All requests for new road names in Ulster County, including but not limited to new subdivision roads, new road names for previously unnamed private roads and road name changes must be reviewed and approved by the Ulster County Department of Emergency Management (EM). 

• All such requests must first be reviewed and authorized by the municipal Assessor, who will assure the consent of any other local officials involved with road naming. 

• The primary purpose of the review by EM is to promote public safety by eliminating possible duplications of the same or similar sounding road names already in existence. 

• Prior to filing a subdivision map showing a new road name, a Road Name Request Form, a copy of which is attached hereto, signed by EM must be submitted with the subdivision map to RPTSA. 

• EM will forward copies of all Road Name Authorization forms to RPTSA. 

• Where appropriate, the tax map will be updated to show the new and revised road names authorized by EM. 

• These road naming procedures shall be updated from time to time as needed. 

• New roads or road name changes requests should be submitted through the local assessor or Office of Real Property Service.

There are several service providers offering internet based telephone service. Some providers offer this service in conjunction with existing cable television service, other are offering stand alone broadband VOIP service.

There are advantages to VOIP telephone service - namely low cost and portability. However, you must verify what conditions may cause you to lose telephone service. For example, if you lose your broadband or cable connection, you will also lose your ability to make phone calls. Similarly, if you lose electricity, you will also lose telephone service. Check carefully with your service provider what effect loosing power and/or cable have on your ability to make calls.

Lastly, ensure that your service provider can provide you with enhanced 911 service. Some VOIP providers simply route your call to our communications center on ordinary telephone lines. This does not provide us with your location. Make certain your service provider:

• routes their calls through the 911 network
• that your call will come in with automatic number identification (ANI) and automatic location identification (ALI) - both of which allow us to direct emergency personnel to your location.

Each answering position at the Ulster County Emergency Communications Center is equipped with Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf (TDD) capabilities. In addition to having the ability to answer calls from hearing or speech impaired callers on any 911 line, we also maintain a line dedicated for this purpose. That number is (845) 338-2850.

Los llamadores no de habla inglesa que las comunicaciones de la emergencia del condado del ulster contraen con un servicio de interpreting/translation para proporcionar a llamadores no de habla inglesa tienen acceso al sistema 911.

911 personal del teléfono se determina qué lengua está hablando un llamador, después comienza una llamada de conferencia con un intérprete fluido en esa lengua o dialecto. Este llamada de tres vías continuaraá hasta que la suficiente información se obtiene para enviar la ayuda apropiada.

Ulster County Emergency Communications contracts with an interpreting / translation service to provide non English speaking callers access to the 911 system. Telecommunicators determine which language a caller is speaking, then conference in an interpreter fluent in that language or dialect. This three way call will continue until sufficient information is obtained to send the appropriate assistance.