DeKalb County residents will have to be patient in waiting for their 911 emergency system.

December 1991 was the target date for the beginning of the service, but delays in readdressing rural residents might push that date to spring 1992.

The DeKalb County Board adopted a new rural house numbering system in March to more efficiently dispatch emergency vehicles.

However, Grace Midsouth, the company hired for readdressing, is behind schedule, said Capt. Jim Laben, the 911 board chairman.

“We were hoping for it in December,” Laben said. The equipment is available to turn the service on for the whole county when the readdressing is finished, he said.

The company has been working for six to eight months, but identifying rural residents and giving them new numbers is taking longer than expected, he said.

DeKalb County residents have been charged the 84-cent surcharge during the planning stage to buy the equipment, he said.

“We feel (84 cents) is more than fair,” he said. Ogle County residents pay $1.25 while Carroll County residents pay $1.75.

The delay effects DeKalb the same as everyone else, said DeKalb City Manager Mark Stevens. “We’re anxiously awaiting implementation of 911,” Stevens said.