JAY – Police and firefighter radios, pagers and mobile phones stood on the front counter of the Jay Police Station waiting to be reprogrammed to connect with Franklin County Sheriff’s Department dispatchers Thursday.

Paul Michaud and Dave Hubley from Maine Radio set up in the officers’ room, working on laptop computers to reprogram the communications equipment.

They expected they would do nearly 200 of them by the time they were finished. That number included base radios, truck radios and other devices.

Emergency police and fire dispatch services were being transferred to Franklin County Thursday, but by early afternoon it had not been completed.

Franklin County dispatcher Tom Marble ran some testing tones about noon to the Jay Fire Department.

Jay dispatchers will be working around the clock through June 29 to help make sure any glitches in the system are worked out.

Lead dispatcher Donna Ladd will stay on with the Police Department as a secretary but will not be dispatching emergencies, police Chief Larry White Sr. said.

If residents have an emergency, they are to call 911, White said.

The 897-6766 number is for business purposes only, not emergencies White said.