Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Call goes out for upgrade County officials want consolidated emergency dispatch system

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 01:28:44 -0500

Call goes out for upgrade County officials want consolidated emergency dispatch
system

By Christine Iwan
The Enquirer

Aging equipment. Dead spots. An
inability for all public safety officers to
communicate directly during an
emergency.

It's the formula for potential failures in
Calhoun County's current emergency
dispatch system -- and potential
disaster for a crime victim or a patrol
officer who could be heading into a
dangerous situation.

But an examination of the situation has
unveiled a way for officers to get the
call quicker, have more information
when they get there and, ultimately,
reduce their response time.

All they need is a new system that
could cost county property owners up
to $15 million to build and about $3.3
million initially to operate each year.

"This is critical. The infrastructure has
to be upgraded," said Bob Muladore,
the E-911 communication coordinator
hired to study the issue of a
consolidated dispatch center. "When
you can't get to someone, that's a
scary thing."

Muladore's feasibility study suggests
asking the voters to approve a millage
to build and operate a consolidated
dispatch system, and county officials
say the issue likely will be put on the
ballot for the Aug. 3 election.

For building the system, the tax cost to
the owner of a $100,000 home with a
tax value of $50,000 would be about
$230 over a 10- or 15-year period,
according to Muladore's
recommendations. And the operating
costs would cost the same taxpayer
about $51 a year.

Several questions are yet to be
answered about the center, including a
definitive price tag, but preliminary
estimates put the cost of a new system
at $15 million and operating costs at
$3.3 million a year. The total
countywide dispatch budget in 2002
was $2.4 million and was supported by
part of a telephone surcharge, general
fund budgets from Battle Creek, Albion
and Marshall and fees from the Area
Metropolitan Service Agency.

The study, released Dec. 31, also
resolved some issues related to a
consolidated system.

It recommends:

The creation of an independent
authority to oversee the operation of the
proposed emergency dispatch center
and construction of the facility in
Marshall as a central location within the
county.

Special equipment that will make it
easier for dispatchers to locate police
officers, firefighters and other
emergency workers and also for them
to communicate among themselves.
This will cut down on the amount of
time spent on the radio, relaying
information about their location, and
speed up the process between a 911
call and the time it takes to arrive on
the scene, the study states.

Calhoun become part of a four-county communication and information consortium
with Branch, Hillsdale and St. Joseph counties. They all are investigating how
to
upgrade dispatch and radio systems as a single unit, which would make
communication among them easier and eventually speed response times. This
collaboration will mean the counties will be better able to share information,
but also
puts the counties in a good position to receive federal funding for their
consolidated
project.

Even though many decisions have been made since Muladore was hired in July 2002,

many of the questions might go unanswered until an independent authority is
formed
to oversee the center, and that might not be created until funding is in place,
said Greg
Purcell, county administrator.

The Calhoun County Board of Commissioners last week unanimously approved an
agreement between the county and the cities of Battle Creek, Albion and Marshall
to
continue working toward a single communication system for the next two years,
with
Muladore as the project coordinator. The cities are expected to take up the
issue at
coming meetings.

"The technology is old," Muladore said. "If we don't do something countywide,
they'll
have to look at it individually."

Why this? Why now?

Calhoun County already has a central communications center that handles most of
the 26 agencies within Calhoun County, including the sheriff's department, the
Battle
Creek Police Department and all of the county's volunteer fire departments. Only
the
cities of Albion and Marshall continue to do their own dispatching.

A replacement and maintenance fund also is being suggested to avoid large
equipment replacement costs in the future. The study recommends a fund be
established from the 4 percent telephone surcharge assessment currently in
place. A
total of $739,394 was collected from this surcharge in Calhoun County in 2002.

Initially, technology would be the biggest cost to the county.

The entire county uses VHF radios, which is the technology that allows officers
to talk
in their cars or on portable radios to the dispatch center. It's also what is
heard on
scanners that can be purchased at most any electronics store.

Since initial research began, it has been recommended that an 800 MHz radio
system
-- in particular the Michigan Public Safety Communication System used by the
Michigan State Police -- be provided for police officers and fire agencies that
choose to
participate.

Last week, 17 of the county's 18 fire departments agreed to move to that system.

Athens Township Fire Chief Tom Hardy said the fire departments were willing to
join
that system as long as they could keep the older system, which allows for toning
or a
system of alerting departments when there is an emergency.

Putting the 800 MHz system in place allows for more communication among
different
kinds of departments, such as state and federal agencies. It also would help
officers
better find cell phone users dialing 911, something that doesn't always happen
today,
Muladore said.

According to a study done in Calhoun County, the 800 MHz system is much safer
than the current system.

Muladore conducted 5,910 tests in every Calhoun County township and in Battle
Creek. According to the data, the VHF portable radio, which is what the county
currently uses, was tested 1,989 times and failed to make a connection 485
times, or
18 percent of the time. These "dead spots" mean there is no communication for
the
officer or firefighter in the field.

The 800 MHz portable radio was tested 2,212 times and failed 133 times, or 6
percent.
Muladore said the nature of the 800 MHz signal allows for a better rate of
success.

Consolidation also would include a backup system in Branch County in case of a
disaster. Calhoun County dispatchers experienced this briefly last summer during
the
massive blackout. The system's aging equipment caused a small glitch for a few
hours, and the county's own backup system for one of the communication towers
failed. That forced dispatchers for firefighters and sheriff deputies in Calhoun
to call the
Marshall dispatch center.

While tragedy was averted in that situation, and there is no record of anything
serious
happening to somebody because of a dead spot, the proposed system would make it
easier to communicate in future emergencies.

Can this succeed?

Even with a definite plan for a better dispatch system, this is by no means a
"slam
dunk," Purcell said.

A number of county commissioners said that while public safety referendums
historically have been approved by voters, times are tough economically and the
public
needs to see real value if they are to support a tax increase.

Two efforts to pass referendums to build a new juvenile home in Calhoun County
failed
in 2002. The last major public safety millage to pass in the county was in 1989
when
voters approved bonds to finance a new jail. That debt taxed on the county level
will be
retired this year.

"There are so many variables when it comes to passing tax proposals. The key one
is
that citizens understand what's being proposed and why it's being proposed,"
said
Chairman Marvin Austin, D-District 2. "Certainly, we'll give that a lot of
thought before
we decide whether to go out for a millage or not. ... I think there's a clear
consensus
for a need for consolidated dispatching. It's a valuable tool for locating
people who are
in distress. It saves lives and saves property."

The commission would need to approve ballot language by its first meeting in May
to
have the issue taken to the voters in August.

Dan Strowbridge, R- District 4, is on the funding subcommittee and an Albion
Public
Safety lieutenant. He said the existing system is "less than reliable" and
putting every
agency on the same system will only benefit the county as a whole.

In addition to examining a millage, Strowbridge said there is a strong
possibility of
obtaining federal money or grant dollars to help pay for the system. As a
commissioner, he believes it is his responsibility to levy only what is needed
from the
voters.

"We're really trying to be responsible with how were going to pay for this," he
said.
"We want the taxpayers to know that we'll be responsible with how the money is
spent."

Christine Iwan covers Albion and Calhoun County government. She can be reached
at
966-0684 or [email-masked]

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/news/stories/20040210/localnews/384937.html
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