Amanda Gray, South Bend Tribune (Indiana)

When the St. Joseph County Council last week tabled an ordinance pertaining to the consolidation of its emergency dispatch centers, it underscored the fact there are many decisions to be made with a deadline looming.

The state has mandated that all counties consolidate their emergency dispatch centers to one or two locations by the end of 2014.

Chief among the matters yet to be settled here are how many dispatch locations the county will create and where will they be located.

The tabled ordinance would unite South Bend, Mishawaka and the county under a consortium managed by a three-member executive board consisting of the mayors of Mishawaka and South Bend, and the president of the county Board of Commissioners (or someone that person appoints).

The measure was put on hold because of a question regarding the status of the University of Notre Dame’s dispatch center.

County Council President Rafael Morton said county commissioner Andy Kostielney sought one more month to sort out the agreements between the parties.

Kostielney, for his part, said that commissioner Marsha McClure, who’s leading the project for the commissioners, requested the measure be tabled so that those involved can figure out Notre Dame’s role, if any, in the consolidation.

Notre Dame does have a police department, but is not considered an official 9-1-1 center, according to university spokesman Dennis Brown.

“We are not designated as a PSAP (public safety answering point) or 9-1-1 center, so we are not directly impacted by the consolidation,” Brown said by email. “That said, NDSP will continue to work closely with area agencies to support them in any way we can through the consolidation planning and implementation.”

As for the actual future county dispatch center location, officials seem to have narrowed possible sites to two: a plot of land in northwest South Bend near Blackthorn Golf Course and a plot off of Capital Avenue, south of 12th Street, in the county but close to Mishawaka city utilities, McClure said.

Some site work will determine which location would serve a dispatch center better, she added.

McClure said that the government officials haven’t yet determined if the county will consolidate to one or two dispatch centers.

“So much really depends on the site selection,” McClure said. “I have every confidence that we are going to be able to publicize that decision soon. We’re still trying to make the best decision for everyone involved.”

She said she expects a decision on the site by the middle of the month, and a steady increase in progress next month.

Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood said it is too soon to decide if there will be one dispatch center or two, but that there are a lot of factors. Part of the ongoing study is to weigh benefits and detriments of one site versus two.

“We are making a decision knowing that whatever is decided here is going to serve the people for the next 50 years or more,” Wood said.

He said discussions about the consolidation have been “very collaborative” between himself and officials from the county and South Bend, but at the forefront of his mind is the impact of the consolidation on the public.

“One of the things we do not want to do is compromise service,” Wood said. “Hopefully what we create will not just be efficient and state of the art, but it won’t compromise service.”

Wood said he intends to put a non-binding referendum before the Mishawaka City Council to support the consolidation.

Kara Kelly, spokeswoman for South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, said, “South Bend, Mishawaka, the county and the other districts are cooperating to establish a consolidated 9-1-1 dispatch center and are making good progress. The mayor’s priority is safety for residents, while making sure we conform to the new state policy with a solution that makes fiscal sense.”

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