Commissioner questions need for commission

Washington County Communications Commissioner Adam Mangold proposed investigating the possibility of disbanding the commission and letting the sheriff?s office take over its functions. Mangold made the announcement at the commission?s meeting at the former Washington Library Monday night.

Mangold said that the commission has no authority to borrow money and that if it were to build or remodel a facility for the dispatch center, it would need to be funded through the county. He conceded that that the situation may be different now that the City of Washington has agreed to remodel the former library.

Mangold stated, ?However, all of this information leads me to inquire more formally than I have in the past, ?Why does the commission, as it is today, exist?? As I have stated in the past, it appears that when we aren?t talking about a new/remodeled facility we tend to have 15 minute meetings to approve claims and once a year we determine employees? salary increases and set a budget.?

Mangold said the functions of the commission are largely county functions already.

?The building currently housing communications is a county building,? he said. ?The employees of Communications are paid through the county, via the sheriff?s payroll. The benefits package is the county?s benefit package. Claims are paid with the help of the County Auditor and according to Article VI- Section 1 of the by laws adopted in 1976, the communications officer shall be the Washington County Sheriff.?

Communications Supervisor Cara Sorrells said the communication employees are paid by the commission and not through the county.

Mangold said the commission can be disbanded ?peacefully? under Article X of the 1990 agreement, which relates to dissolution.

The agreement reads, ?This agreement and the Commission may be dissolved at any time by a majority vote of the representatives and all member governmental units passing a resolution supporting such Commission action.?

The commissioners plan to decide on the location of the new dispatch center at its August meeting. Several commissioners commented that it has taken far too long to choose a location for the center. Those in attendance agreed to organize a mayor?s meeting to review all of the suggested locations thus far and to make a recommendation to the commission at its August meeting.

A new idea has emerged since the commission?s meeting in June. That idea is to build a dispatch center at Orchard Hill and attach it to the sheriff?s office. Previously, the possibilities for new construction at Orchard Hill were limited to a free-standing structure and one connected to the jail.