Dispatch disagreement continues

Tone has changed but the result is so far unchanged
 
The Newcastle City Council took what appeared to be a first step towards a deal that would have meant Weston County would only have one dispatch center for all emergency responders, but the Board of Weston County Commissioners declined to accept the city’s proposal because they did not feel it offered the type of compromise county officials have been seeking in the ongoing dispute.
 
The council approved the proposal, which was offered by Mayor Pam Gualtieri during their regular meeting on April 17.
 
She proposed that the City of Newcastle would continue to operate emergency dispatch under the guidance of a five person advisory board representing Newcastle, Upton and Weston County. She suggested that board consist of Sheriff Bryan Colvard, Newcastle Police Chief Chuck Bowles, Upton Police Chief Susan Bridge and two additional citizens. 
 
In addition to the advisory board, Gualtieri proposed that the dispatch would remain a city service, be relocated to the newly renovated space at City Hall and that the city would reimburse Weston County for a portion of the new Motorola CIS system recently purchased by the county. She noted that the city would negotiate a payment plan with the county for their portion of the system. 
 
“We are trying to make it as fair for everyone as possible. We have to come to an agreement,” Bowles said of the proposal. “There are going to be things the city doesn’t like. We have to put our pride aside and do what is best for the citizens.” 
 
Following discussion, the council voted to approve the proposal — pending approval of the proposal by the Board of Weston County Commissioners and Upton Town Council — with the understanding that contracts between the entities would still need to be negotiated. 
 
However, during their meeting the following morning, on April 18, the county commissioners discussed the proposal with Sheriff Colvard, who stated during the discussion that he believed the most significant compromises offered in the proposal were being made by the county. And the commissioners agreed.
 
The general consensus of county officials was that they were not ready to move forward with the proposal and that discussions needed to continue, and County Attorney Michael Stulken suggested that the city and county consider hiring a mediator to oversee the negotiations. 
 
“I did talk about maybe getting a mediator to try to help resolve some of these issues,” he said. “A third party with no stick in the game. To tell each side they are wrong or right.” 
 
There was hope for resolution leading up to the proposal because the council and three of the five Weston County commissioners (Don Taylor, Garrett Borton and Vera Huber) agreed at a joint public meeting hosted by the city council on April 12 that two dispatch services are not the best option for the county or its residents. However, after this week’s meetings they appear no closer to an actual settlement to the long-running dispute. 
 
Tensions between the two entities have escalated for several years, and culminated in the city’s decision over a year ago to move the Newcastle Police Department and dispatch services out of the Weston County Law Enforcement Center and into City Hall.  At the same time, county officials made the decision to build and operate a second dispatch center. 
 
The main point of contention between the two bodies involves who would oversee dispatch operations. County officials have expressed support for the creation of a joint powers board to oversee dispatch operations, while the city council has consistently demonstrated that it wants the Newcastle Police Department to maintain oversight of the dispatch center. City officials have also proposed an updated service contract with the county to compensate the City of Newcastle for operating dispatch.
 
County Commissioner Don Taylor and City Councilman Tyrel Owens have been joined by other members of their respective boards in admitting over the past two years that two dispatch centers is not the right solution to end the ongoing debate. 
 

 
Other government officials, including Colvard and Weston County emergency management coordinator Gilbert Nelson, have agreed, stating on several occasions that the two entities working together to avoid two dispatch centers is the most feasible and fiscally responsible option. 
 
Recently, newly hired Bowles has lent his voice to those supporting a single dispatch center, and several members of the public who spoke out during the April 12 meeting also expressed support for the county and city continuing to work together under one emergency dispatch center. 
 
During that meeting, Bowles stated that he saw three options that the city and county could choose. 
 
Option one would be using the city’s recently renovated space to house dispatch services — including the county’s newly purchased Motorola CIS system. The city would continue to employ the dispatchers, and Bowles would work with Colvard and Bridge to oversee the service and address concerns that have been raised about the present dispatch operation. 
 
“We would all come together with a seamless transition with the new system and move forward,” Bowles said, noting that this option would give the dispatchers a new space where they would be comfortable away from the county jail. 
 
“I think, all in all, it saves the taxpayers money,” Bowles said of the option, which mirrored the proposal offered by Mayor Gualtieri and approved by the city council. 
 
The second option would involve the county and the city continuing on the current path with two dispatch centers, one operated by the city and one operated by the county. 
 
“I don’t know of any pros to that. I tried to think of some, and I can’t come up with any,” Bowles said. 
 
The third option, he explained, would be a county-run dispatch service that the city would then utilize as well. Bowles noted that he is not a fan of this option because it would result in four currently employed city dispatchers losing their jobs if the county was not willing to guarantee that they would be offered jobs at the county dispatch center. 
 
The commissioners who were present at the joint meeting made it clear they could not speak for the whole board, but they agreed that the two entities should work together to keep the dispatch as one. The question that remained was who would operate the service and where it would be housed. 
 
Colvard, Huber and Taylor all stated that they would like to see the dispatch operations remain at the Weston County Law Enforcement Center, but they did express belief that there was still potential for the entities to work together to come up with a solution and agreement. 
 
At the end of the April 12 meeting, the elected officials who were present requested that Colvard, Bridge and Bowles work with City Attorney Dublin Hughes and Stulken to come up with contracts that would protect all the involved entities, and in spite of the commissioner’s decision to not accept the city’s proposal, a meeting between these individuals is still scheduled for Wednesday, April 19.