County to look at dispatch costs

The Weston County Commission has instructed Gilbert Nelson, Weston County Emergency Management coordinator, to begin exploring the cost of purchasing the equipment and setting up its own dispatch center. For the project, the county would potentially use some of the $1.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds it expects to receive. 
As previously reported, tensions over the dispatch center have continued for years and have recently come to a head as the city prepares to relocate the city police department and dispatch to the city office, vacating the Weston County Law Enforcement Center. 
The county, Upton and other local agencies have continually fought for the creation of a joint powers board to oversee dispatch services, but Newcastle Mayor Pam Gualtieri is opposed to the idea at this time. 
During a discussion on Feb. 15, Commissioners Nathan Todd and Don Taylor both stated that having two dispatch centers isn’t the ideal situation, but that the county must be prepared to have its own facility if an agreement cannot be reached. Nelson said during the discussion that both he and Sheriff Bryan Colvard were in favor of moving ahead with exploring the costs. 
Colvard confirmed during a later phone call with the News Letter Journal that he was in favor of a separate dispatch center.
“If we aren’t going to do a joint powers board that gives all of the players a little more input, then I would be in favor of the separate dispatch,” he said. “That way we can make sure everyone gets some input.” 
He said that when dispatch issues arise, then the other entities (Weston County Sheriff’s Department, Upton Police Department, Weston County Fire Protection District and other county and Upton agencies) have no guarantee that those issues will be resolved without a joint powers board at which all entities are represented. 
“Worst-case scenario, we needed the contracts with teeth,” Colvard said, noting that this is why he, Upton Police Chief Susan Bridge, Newcastle Police Chief Sam Keller and Weston County Deputy Attorney Jeani Stone have been working on updating contracts that expired eight years ago. 
At the Feb. 15 meeting, Stone said that during one of the upcoming March commissioners’ meetings, those proposed contracts would be presented to the board. She said that she hopes to present the county’s options for moving forward, including a potential contract for service with the city. 
“I am hoping we can all come together,” Stone said, noting that it is a good idea for the county to start thinking about what it would take to start up and operate a dispatch service if the relationship with the city was to go “out of the water.” 
“I’m not trying to cast doubt on anything, but I haven’t seen a lot of positive things come out of it so far,” Todd said. “We need to get the ball rolling, I know March isn’t far away, but it would be kicking the can down the road.” 
“Updating the policies and procedures, it needed done,” Nelson said. “But it doesn’t mean anything will change, and I don’t know if the county wants to enter into another agreement with the city. The policies, we have to have that, but it is a minor fix to the big picture.” 
He noted that most of the county entities that use the dispatch center support a joint powers board. Taylor added that he finds issue with the city being against the joint powers board because it is something that all of the other entities support. 
“It feels like they are forcing us to go back with them, and every other entity just has to eat it and like it,” Taylor said. 
But Stone maintained that the city does have options, including choosing to go with the contract for service, which will create some teeth and a system to address issues, or to move forward with starting up its own dispatch service. She said she plans to present all of the options in March after the contract for service is complete. 
“If the sides can’t agree, then we can decide what we want to do. It could all be for naught, but we are certainly trying,” Stone said. 
“My hope is we allocate the money and start the process and maybe Newcastle will come back to the table,” Todd said. “That would be my hope.” 
Nelson added that it would be unlikely that the city could afford to continue to operate a dispatch service on its own. He noted that the city would be ineligible to receive its portion of the e-911 funds because you have to serve at least 50% of the entities in the area. 
While no official decisions were made, Nelson was instructed to begin gathering costs and needs to start up a dispatch service for the county and the other entities. After preliminary numbers are presented, the commissioners said that they would be able to determine how much of the coronavirus relief package funds to set aside to help pursue the venture. 
 
 
Commissioners discuss funding
The Weston County commissioners have held workshops and discussions during board meetings, including Feb. 15, to address the spending of $1.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding received by the county. To date, the county has received $674,000, with another payment scheduled for this year. 
At this time, no decisions have been made, but the commissioners have reached out to various departments, including the Weston County Fairgrounds, Mallo, the Weston County libraries, Weston County Road and Bridge and the various offices housed in the Weston County Courthouse, to see where the funds might be used.