Township Not Yet Considering County Dispatch

With a few residents turning out to Monday’s council meeting to express concerns about the possibility of moving to the county dispatch system, council members said they have not received any formal proposals and are therefore in no position to make any decisions or comments as of yet.

The recent budget introduced by the county includes funding for the county 911 dispatch system, and funding the transition for local police departments.

But a decision to be part of the county dispatch system rests solely with the local municipality.

“This council has not received a formal proposal for its consideration in terms of 911 migration,” council president Christine Henderson Rose said. “I know there are rumors running around and some say it’s a done deal.”

“But that decision has not been made because this council has not received a formal proposal,” she added.

There are currently meetings planned for discussions with fire and rescue squads concerning the county dispatch system, but they are not public meetings and are simply for information.

If a proposal ever comes before the council, there will be public discussions.

“It will be after the administration has listened to emergency services and heard some sort of financial report on what that means for the township,” Rose said. “If you think we are about to do something, we are not because we don’t have anything to do, and no proposal to act on.”

The county has in the past looked at the possibility of county police consolidation, folding the 19 departments into one, which would possibly save the county taxpayers more than $44 million over the next 10 years. Most municipalities declined to support the proposed merger.

As for county dispatch, the county’s 911 communications center provides full dispatch services to 11 municipalities and partial services to eight, with only Bridgewater and Warren not receiving any dispatch services.

Township attorney William Savo said that if a proposal were to be made, it would come first from the mayor negotiating an agreement, followed by a required approval from the council.

Green Knoll Fire Chief Jim Vitale said he believes dispatch should stay in the township.

“We are in support of keeping the dispatchers in town, and I wanted to let the council know that,” he said.