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Chris Walter from Canton, who
specializes in negotiation and labor laws, introduced a preliminary
agreement for 911 dispatch employees as part of a new 911 proposal.
Currently the operation has five county
employees and five city employees performing daily operations under
two different commands. Sheriff Steve Nichols oversees the county
employees and is responsible for certain details of the operation.
Lincoln Police Chief Rich Montcalm supervises the city employees and
takes care of some other responsibilities related to the operation.
The Logan County ETSB/911 board is
under the authority of the Logan County Board. The proposal, which
introduces the concept of a unified command, was first presented by
the ETSB last summer.
From the start of the Logan County 911
it has been the vision of the board to have a unified command
center. The consolidation will offer equal representation in
policy-making for the city-county combined 911 dispatch center.
There are numerous benefits to
implementing the new plan. Unifying the center will result in more
efficient and smoother operations in the control room.
At present the sheriff runs the daily
operations in the dispatch room, and the police chief has input.
Two dispatchers are on duty on all
shifts, one from city and one from county. While the dispatchers
basically operate separately, they cover calls for one another when
overloaded, which is often. In addition to answering calls they have
other duties in the room, which differ from each other.
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Plans to restructure the operation of
the control room have been in the works for over two years. The
dispatch center will have more uniform responsibilities, and
dispatchers will all be under one supervisor. The supervisor will
not be from the city or the county, but will work closely with the
city police chief and the sheriff and will receive additional input
from the city and county through the ETSB.
The changes will not only make a more
evenly controlled room, but it will also free up two city police
officers who are currently needed for the streets, and it will free
up some of the sheriff's time, allowing him to put more effort into
other areas. Most of all, it will create the best operating scenario
for a 911 system.
The tentative new employee contract
agreement, and other structural information, was presented to
the county 911 committee last week. Next, it will be presented to
the full county board for approval. If the county approves
it, the proposal will be taken to the voters in a referendum.
The ETSB provided copies of the same
material for the city to review. While some areas of the plan are
still in the negotiation stage, the ETSB is seeking the city’s
approval of the proposal. Though it was pointed out by a city
alderman that the 911 board needs only the county’s approval,
Fulscher said that they will not move forward on this proposal
without the city’s approval as well.
At the recommendation of the contract
lawyers, it was asked that the tentative information be kept
confidential at this point in time.
The council,
Mayor Beth Davis and City Attorney Bill Bates will take some time to
review the information.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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