Consolidated 911 (1)
The concept of combining all 911 services in Madison County is not new. The ideal was first proposed in the early 90's when 911 first started in Madison County, which was also about the time that CSEPP started. The original concept would have brought all three centers, Richmond, Berea, and Madison County into one consolidated center, as part of the new EOC building. The original concept never developed and the system remained a three-center operation.
Starting in early 2003, with the change of mayors and police chiefs in Richmond and Berea, and a new fire chief in Berea, relationships between the agencies improved. Federal Homeland Security programs emphasized the need for interagency cooperation and the 911 issue resurfaced. A few meetings were held between government leaders in late 2003 and early 2004 and a Feasibility Study was completed. Discussions continued over the next three years, and Madison County and Berea consolidated in 2007.
Our hope is that Richmond will join the consolidation in the very near future; it will save money and improve safety for the residents of Richmond.
Richmond Register - March 2, 2008
County, Berea: No invitation to combine 911 dispatch
By Ronica Shannon
Register News Writer
Richmond Register - August 4, 2006
RICHMOND — Mention of a centralized 911 dispatching system that would combine Richmond, Berea and county agencies has been the center of much controversy lately, most recently being discussed at Tuesday’s public forum hosted by the Richmond government.
Commissioner Kay Cosby Jones defended the city’s position about not participating in a feasibility study about the best place to locate a centralized dispatch center.
“A lot of this is about money,” Jones said at Tuesday’s forum. “Richmond pays more than two-thirds the cost of the 911 calls that are made in the county. Richmond has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on our dispatch system and we have invited the other two agencies in. The city is not turning a deaf ear to those who want to consolidate the 911 system. The city does not want to walk away from what already has been invested.”
Berea Mayor Steve Connelly does not recall receiving this invitation.
“There has never been an invitation extended to Berea or Madison County that I’m aware of,” Connelly said. “If Richmond is serious about joining forces at its dispatch center, I urge the commission to renew the invitation. I think all of the citizens in Madison County would like to know the terms of this proposal. Each government can then be held accountable on its response or lack thereof.”
Madison Judge-Executive Kent Clark also is unaware of any invitation that may have been extended by the city.
“We’ve never received any invitation from anybody,” Clark said. “We have more important things to do than to nit-pick back and forth.”
Connelly is interested in cooperating with the city’s dispatching efforts, as well as Clark. The two approached the City Commission in March with a proposal for a centralized dispatching system and the three governments joined in April to discuss the matter, but no action was taken afterward.
“I would be very interested in studying such a proposal that parallels what Judge Clark and I have been trying to accomplish,” Connelly said. “But, there has been no written communication.”
At the April meeting, the commissioners expressed their apprehensions of joining the board in fear of losing what the city already has established in regards to emergency dispatching services.
Clark clarified that he and Connelly were not suggesting that Richmond, Berea and Madison County combine their 911 dispatching systems right away. He suggested that the city simply consider beginning with the 911 Emergency Board.
“You’re not providing the best emergency services to the residents in this county,” Clark said at the April meeting. “You don’t transfer calls when you’re dealing with human life and that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re going to see something happen here that involves a major disaster and you’re going to see the problems we have by having two 911 dispatching systems.
“I know that you don’t want to see the county judge come up here and tell you how to take care of your business,” he said. “But, when something this important comes to the table, then I think it’s my duty, along with every other elected official, to try to bring everybody together.”
Jones has no argument with bringing the entities together for a centralized dispatch, she said.
“They (the county and Berea) have been invited over and over,” Jones said. “When I spoke about money at (Tuesday’s public forum), it’s not about the money the city needs to run their dispatch. It’s the money needed by the county.”
The county will eventually run out of funding for its Emergency Operations Center, and the most of the commission is concerned that the county wants to include themselves to have access to city funds, Jones said.
Clark is not sure of the correlation between the EOC center and centralized dispatch.
“The EOC, in 2016 or 2018, will go away as the nerve gas goes away,” Clark said. “Jones has no clue as to what she’s talking about.”
Jones said she also is not confident of the board that was established by Clark and Connelly. It had very little representation from the city, she said.
Commissioner Mike Brewer, who is a paramedic for Madison County Emergency Medical Services, has played a significant role in coordinating and assisting with Richmond’s dispatching efforts.
“The first time we extended that invitation was long ago,” Brewer said. “It first came out when Mayor (Ann) Durham offered to do the dispatching for them.”
The recent feasibility study, which only included Berea and Madison County governments, concluded that Richmond City Hall would be the best place to locate a centralized dispatch center, he said.
“Our (dispatch) facility was underground, away from the Interstate, which are some of the things that are necessary for an effective dispatch,” Brewer said. “We didn’t pay our $7,000 to participate in the study because we knew it would show that Richmond (City Hall) was the place for the centralized dispatch center.”
One fear of centralized dispatch in the past is that several employees would be eliminated to save money. There would be no consolidating of personnel, according to Brewer.
“We don’t want to minimize employees,” he said. “We want to bring them in and fit them into where we work. We would treat them just as we would our own employees. We want Berea to feel free to come and visit the dispatch center at any time. We would treat the citizens of Berea just as we would those in Richmond.”
Connelly wants the city’s invitation to be more clear and straight-forward, calling it “a good place to start.”
“Let’s make it public and let’s see what is proposed,” Connelly said. “We have no objection in participating in a centralized dispatch.”
Brewer remains strong in claiming that the city always has had open doors at its 911 dispatch center.
“That invitation is on the table, has been on the table and will remain on the table until they tell us that they’re not coming,” he said.