Project to Consolidate Indiana 9-1-1 Dispatch Under Way
Amanda Gray, South Bend Tribune (Indiana)
The planning phase is under way for the consolidation of emergency call centers in St. Joseph County.
The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners approved a $422,000 contract with architect firm DLZ on Oct. 29. The contract is for architectural work and engineering fees, among other associated costs.
St. Joseph County is required by state law to consolidate emergency call services down to no more than two dispatch locations within the county by the end of 2014. According to the contract, the county currently has four emergency call dispatch centers: the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department, Clay Fire Territory, South Bend dispatch and Mishawaka dispatch.
The total project cost, including planning and construction, is estimated to be between $7.44 million and $11.2 million, according to estimation tables provided in the architect contract.
County Commissioner Marsha McClure, who’s leading the project for the commissioners, said those number provide a cost range, but she and other elected officials are aiming to narrow that range as they solidify ideas for the consolidation.
Chief among those ideas is whether they will have one facility or two. McClure said that she is personally leaning toward one location over two, if costs make sense, but that she’s open to any possibility.
“We still have not made that final decision yet,” McClure said Thursday, though she added that it could come as soon as sometime this month.
The contract with DLZ set a timeline for project design – a deadline of “owner approval and decision” on the project design by Dec. 27, just seven weeks away from today.
“It’s an aggressive timeline, but we’re trying to meet it,” McClure said. “We do understand that it’s aggressive, though.”
As for location, she said that officials for each city and the county gave suggestions for possible locations, and that the design firm is evaluating property to see which would be the best fit for a building.
“None of us are really concerned about where it’s located, just that it’s the best location for something like this,” McClure said.
On Tuesday, the County Council will hold the first reading of an ordinance that aims at establishing the “Public Safety Communications Consortium of St. Joseph County,” which will give a blueprint to the project, McClure explained.
The ordinance officially establishes the executive and operations boards, which represent elected officials and public safety leaders, as well as duties for both bodies.
“We’re trying to set a framework to have something to work in,” McClure said.
McClure said one of her main goals of the project is to keep the operations side – including police and fire departments – at the center of the discussion. To that end, the operations managers have started meeting regularly with DLZ, McClure said.
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