DERRY — Town leaders and members of the Town Council are eager to sign up for a 911 mapping program through the state’s Bureau of Emergency Communication.

Derry is one of the last communities in the state to take part in the program, and is part of Town Administrator John Anderson and Fire Chief George Klauber’s efforts to address street naming and numbering issues in town.

“We want to let people know that we are really concerned about public safety and response times for our emergency personnel,” said Anderson. “We had the Planning Board adopt regulations about a month ago to have all new subdivisions be numbered in accordance with all (state) regulations.”

Although the regulations will apply to new subdivisions and subdivision roads, Anderson said there are still a number of issues in town with house numbering and duplicate or similar sounding road names.

Under the mapping plan, the state’s bureau of emergency communication will provide detailed mapping and information on every road, structure and fire hydrant in the town. It will also provide recommendations for street naming and numbering issues.

While the state will make the recommendations, it will be up to the town to decide what type of action it wants to take as far as renaming streets or renumbering houses along those streets.

“This is all about emergency response to make sure we can get emergency personnel to your residence or business in the quickest possible way,” said Anderson. “With all these confusing items, we can’t.”

The new Planning Board address standards provide a clear, unambiguous system that minimizes response time and errors, according to Klauber.

Under the new regulations even numbers will be on one side of the street and odd numbers on the other, with a new street number every fifty feet beginning at the street line.

State E-911 field coordinator Kenny-Lynn Dempsey said the standardized address system recommended by the state prevents confusion, and added that the mapping identifies any areas of concerns in the town.

The mapping program is free, but Dempsey said it could take another year or two for the state to get to Derry because there are other communities waiting to have their streets mapped.

Once the state collects the mapping data, Dempsey said it will be reviewed and merged with data from the town.

Town Councilor Neil Wetherbee said he was behind the mapping program, especially since the town is under no obligation to immediately change street names or numbering.

“Let’s get the mapping done, and then we can address the issues as we move forward,” he said.

Klauber said his goal is to establish priorities for numbers and roads that may need to be addressed once the mapping is completed.

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Adam Swift may be reached at aswift@newstote.com.