Mayor representatives recommend upgrading dispatch center

The Washington County Communications committee of mayoral representatives of the towns in the county besides Washington met Wednesday and passed a series of motions about their preferences regarding the future location of the Washington County Communications Center.

The committee voted to recommend spending $50,000 on the current dispatch center immediately. It voted to keep the dispatch center on county property. It passed a motion which said that if the dispatch center is moved off its current block, that it should be moved to Orchard Hill. Lastly, the board passed a motion saying that if the dispatch center is moved to Orchard Hill, it should be in a stand-alone building. All motions were approved unanimously.

The surrounding towns have two representatives on the communications commission, which will vote on the location of the dispatch center at its meeting Monday. The Washington County Board of Supervisors has two representatives and the City of Washington has two representatives.

The representatives of the surrounding towns at the meeting were Terry Philips of Riverside, Paul Shelangoski of Brighton, Jerry Kauffman of Kalona, Brenda Carey of West Chester, Ryan Miller of Wellman and Jason Longbine of Ainsworth. Crawfordsville representative Bill Blum was absent. Miller and Shelangoski represent the committee on the communications commission.

At the end of the meeting, Shelangoski said he has heard concerns about his upcoming vote on the dispatch center because he may have a conflict of interest owing to his position on the Brighton Fire Department. Kauffman said that, in small towns, everyone has a conflict of interest.

?I guess my opinion is that I?ve got a bigger conflict because I work with the dispatch center,? Shelangoski said.

?So does Jason [Longbine],? said Washington County Communications Supervisor Cara Sorrells, referring to Longbine?s position as a paramedic with the Washington County Ambulance.

Shelangoski said he asked Washington County Attorney Larry Brock for an opinion on the matter. Shelangoski said he received an e-mail from Brock just before Wednesday?s meeting. Shelangoski read from Brock?s e-mail, which stated, ?I do not see any conflict of interest which would prevent you from participating in this decision or on the commission.?

?That?s good enough for me,? Carey said.

?If you were a 911 operator and also a mayor, I could see a conflict of interest there,? Miller said.

Philips told Shelangoski and Miller they are every bit as important to the commission as the other four members.

?We represent one-third of the population of the county,? Philips said. ?When you guys get up there, feel free to try to herd them in a direction. You may not change their minds a great deal but we are equal to them.?

Sorrells presented the board with a summary of six options for the dispatch center and the the advantages and disadvantages of each, according to Sorrells and her staff. Sorrells wrote that the preferred option was staying at the current site for the next five to eight years while the commission plans for a new building.

?I cannot in good conscience take on additional budgetary burdens and pass them down to the participants,? Sorrells wrote. ?If allowed to, we could stay at our current location without paying rent and with very minor construction costs to make the space more functional and allow an additional console for staffing.?

Later in her letter, Sorrells addressed the remodeling she has in mind for the dispatch center.

?I am not advocating putting a lot of money into this building but I would think for $30,000 to $40,000 we could move or knock out a couple walls, move a server and make the space needed on the floor,? she wrote. ?This is money I have in my reserve fund that we have already accumulated from the people who pay for these services.?

Sorrells wrote that her preference is to eventually move into a new, stand-alone structure.

?We should do this once ? right ? the first time and build into it what we need like a conference/training room, break room big enough for the couch and IT room with space for Next Generation 911 requirements.?

Phillips wanted to discuss the positive and negative aspects of moving the dispatch center to the former library. He said some of the positive attributes of the former library are that it is still fairly close to the courthouse and is downtown.

Carey said, ?I don?t see any benefits to the old library. No. 1, you?ve got parking issues. If Jones-Eden has a funeral, there?s no parking within a block radius of that place. You?ve got the Y right across the street with heavy traffic in there. Parking is horrible downtown. I can?t see putting a dispatch center down there where there?s not going to be reserved parking ? enforced reserved parking ? at the very least.?

Sorrells said the dispatch center would have no control over the other entities that the city may allow to use the former library. She also said the bathroom on the second floor would be too far away from the consoles.

Shelangoski then spoke about the plan to attach the dispatch center to the sheriff?s office.

?In my mind, we?re going to have such a congested mess if we go on the north end of the sheriff?s office,? he said. ?But my council suggested that. That?s what they wanted me to bring back.?

Sorrells wrote in her letter that she does not support the attachment to the sheriff?s office because the dispatchers would have to handle lobby traffic in addition to their calls and because the dispatch center would be ?off site from our radio shed and tower which is not secure and not accessible if there is an alarm.?

Sorrells also wrote that she doesn?t like the idea of moving next door to the former jail because there are problems with the sewer system, the heating and cooling system, water in the basement and an outdated electrical system.

?If we would remodel and have to pay the county back in a monthly rent ? this is something we cannot afford,? she wrote. ?It would also be a capital improvement in a building we do not nor will ever own. I don?t think that is responsible management of our funds.?