By Monsy Alvarado & Karen Sudol, Herald News
Original publication date: April 15, 2011

Lodi, N.J. — A decision by the borough to hand over its police dispatching services are on hold because the cost is more than the $1 million the municipality expected to pay for the length of the five-year contract.

Borough Manager Tony Luna accused the county this week of reneging on the agreement which called for Lodi to pay $200,000 annually to the county for the dispatching service. In September, the Lodi mayor and council passed a resolution authorizing the contract at that price. The following month, the Bergen County Board of Freeholders adopted a similar resolution.

But this week, the county, which is now under a Republican administration, sent the borough a new proposal that calls for Lodi to pay $200,000 the first year for 24-hour coverage of 911, police, fire and emergency medical services dispatching. That cost would climb to $250,000 the second year, and $300,000 the next three years.

“This is not acceptable, and we would ask them to adhere to the original agreement that they gave us,” Luna said.

Capt. Mark Lepinski, the Bergen County Police Department’s communications director and 911 coordinator, said the county is still in “active negotiations” with Lodi. He said he could not talk about contractual issues in detail, but said the new administration is making sure that all agreements protect taxpayers, and that everything is done correctly.

“They want to make sure that the taxpayers of the county are covered, and that the incurred cost of what it costs to dispatch for Lodi is covered by that community,” he said. “The new administration here has stated that they feel that the cost to do dispatch for a municipality should be borne by that municipality and not the rest of the taxpayers.”

Lepinski said costs are based on several variables, including population and services being provided.

Luna said that police dispatching costs the borough about $350,000 annually in salaries, health benefits, and equipment, and that the borough was hoping to realize a significant savings during the five years of the contract. He said the borough plans to introduce its preliminary budget for 2011 on Monday, and that the police dispatching services will not change for now.

“I was counting on it very heavily budgetary wise,” he said.

Luna said that as part of the original negotiations, county officials had agreed that they would hire all of the borough’s dispatchers. Under the new proposal, police dispatchers from Lodi would be hired if openings are available.

“It’s completely changed, and we are not accepting the agreement,” Luna said, noting that the borough attorney has sent a letter to Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan objecting to the new proposal.

Jeanne Baratta, spokeswoman for Donovan, said the new administration was not able to find any paperwork relating to the agreement between Lodi and the county. She said there was no contract, and the resolution does not bind the county. She said Donovan is honoring the $200,000 for the first year, but the other costs are in line with what other towns are paying.

“The county is not looking to make a profit, but to charge a fair fee,” she said. “We are working very hard to try and establish fees.”

While negotiations continue with Lodi, the county will assume dispatching for seven Northern Valley towns on Saturday.

The towns that make up the Interboro Regional Police Communications Network — Alpine, Closter, Harrington Park, Haworth, Northvale, Norwood and Rockleigh — entered the contract with the county, which approved the deal in mid-January, according to Haworth Mayor John DeRienzo.

The contract calls for the towns to pay $290,000 annually for five years for 911 and police, fire and ambulance dispatching — much less than the $526,164 they had paid previously. The towns share costs, which they pay based on population, for salaries, maintenance, repairs and upgrades to the network.

Population estimates for 2009 show that there are 23,766 people living in Lodi. There are a combined 30,875 residents living in the seven towns of the Interboro, according to census figures.

The Interboro system, which is more than 40 years old, uses dispatchers based in Closter to field calls and dispatch officers. The county hired eight Interboro dispatchers — four full-time and four part-time employees, said Lepinski.

“Friday is the last day before the transition,” said Quentin Wiest, Closter’s borough administrator.

For the time being, the dispatchers will continue to work out of Closter but eventually transfer to the county’s new dispatch center in Mahwah, said Wiest.

“We’re anticipating a smooth transition and looking forward to working with Bergen County communications,” DeRienzo said.

Lepinski said he is in negotiations with about a dozen towns who have expressed interest in having the county take over its police dispatching. The county already provides police dispatching for Demarest and Ridgefield.

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