Trumbull County 911 System

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From the WFMJ TV21 Web Site on 2/20/2005.

911 Passes Expenses Along To Communities
Talia Hagler

The Trumbull County 911 Center is trying to come up with more money by charging municipalities more for its services.

Right now the county picks up 80% of the cost of running the 911 center, but the new proposal has the municipalities splitting the cost 50-50 with the county.

Cuts in the 911 center's budget are forcing the layoff of 17 dispatchers on March 14, leaving the center with only two dispatchers per shift.

"There's no thought at this point about closing it, but the reduction would be such that it would be a drastic reduction in service but we'd do the best we could with what we were given to work with," says Director Tim Gladis.

If all of the municipalities agree to the increase the laid off dispatchers will be called back to work.

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From the WKBN TV27 Web Site on 2/20/2005.

Trumbull 911 Funding Is in Question
Warren
Patti DuShaw

At least one township administrator is questioning Trumbull County commissioners’ plans to cut funding to the 911 operations.

Darlene St. George asked for the prosecutor to determine whether such cuts constitute a breach of the contract the county has with all the towns that use the system.

St. George voiced her concerns to commissioners on Tuesday, but has yet to get an answer.

St. George says the township cannot change what it pays into the 911 system due to a three-year contract re-signed last year.

She feels commissioners should not have signed the deal if they could not fund the 911 center.

911 Director Tim Gladis told commissioners the 35 percent proposed cut would cripple the center.

Gladis suggested they either fund it or cut it entirely.

That is something St. George feels would also violate the contract.

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Plea made for 911 jobs
By JOHN GOODALL Tribune Chronicle

WARREN - Trumbull County commissioners heard an emotional plea to halt upcoming 911 layoffs for the safety of the people in the community.

"We stand before you not only concerned about our jobs and livelihood, but the lives and welfare of the residents of Trumbull County,'' said Tamara Greene, dispatcher and spokeswoman for 911 workers. "I cannot, in good conscience, stand before the residents of Trumbull County, the mothers, fathers, children, grandparents and friends, and tell them, 'Help is not on the way.' There aren't enough dispatchers to get your call out in time to save your life.''

She and a group of 911 employees attended Wednesday's commissioners' meeting to tell them they aren't expendable.

Five dispatchers and one supervisor at the emergency center are to be furloughed June 4. Also, an administrative data processor will be reduced from full-time to part-time status.

That move will be eased by the elimination of a dispatching console that serves Weathersfield and McDonald, 911 Director Tim Gladis has said. Those communities decided to transfer their dispatching services from the emergency center to Niles.

Gladis said the layoffs would save the department about $165,000. But it still would be $166,226 short of what it needs to operate the entire year under the county's budget crisis.

But the 911 personnel attending the meeting pointed out the center could be short-handed at times. They noted the area is approaching storm season.

As many as 32 calls have come in during severe weather, they said. Those include reports of trees and wires down.

Each traffic stop an officer makes requires a dispatcher to make at least one Computer Aided Dispatch and two Law Enforcement Automated Data System entries to check for such things as legal status to drive and active warrants for the motorist, they noted.

Reducing the amount of dispatchers also endangers the lives of officers in the field, Greene said.

She said the pursuit of a fleeing individual can tie up as many as three dispatchers. That's because they must coordinate the actions of more than one police department, she said.

"We are still eight dispatchers short, which makes it difficult to do our jobs,'' Greene told the commissioners of layoffs a couple of years ago. "Don't make it more difficult.''

The commissioners told the group they were looking into a number of options for a solution to 911's funding problems. But they made no promises on stopping next month's furloughs.

jgoodall@tribune-chronicle.com

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From the WYTV Channel 33 Web Site on 11/2/2005...

Trumbull 911 Changes

Changes will soon be coming to Trumbull County 911.

The countywide 911 Planning Committee will reopen so that officials can make changes to the way wireless calls are handled.

County officials say there is now new technology available so that emergency calls made on cells phones can go to the right jurisdiction.

County Administrator Tony Carson says, "And those calls actually going to the jurisdictions where they are made, currently now they are going straight to the state patrol and then they are transferring to the different PSAP's."

The 911 Committee is scheduled to meet November 22nd.

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From the Youngstown Vindicator on 11/2/2005...

Officials to restart 911 panel

The idea is to simplify the process for wireless callers who need such services.

By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners are expected today to reactivate the countywide 911 planning committee to free up $300,000 being held in escrow and address a problem with wireless emergency calls.

Anthony Carson, county administrator, said Tuesday that the state is holding the money until the county comes up with a plan for its 911 center in Howland to manage such wireless communications.

Currently, if a person dials 911 on a cellular phone, the call automatically rings into the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Southington post. The post then notifies the 911 center, but the call comes in to the center on a designated cell phone line — not an emergency line.

The money would be used to set up a way for these wireless 911 calls to come straight to the center, for dispatching of emergency services in participating jurisdictions. Trumbull County 911 answers calls for 20 townships, the sheriff's department and Cortland and Orangeville.

Getting others on board

Carson said the committee will also look at attracting communities to join the county emergency call system and review how much each community should be charged for the service.

The planning committee was last convened in 1998. At that time the county had to allocate more money to 911, and Warren and Liberty townships were permitted to pull out of the system.

Also ongoing is a search to find a new 911 director. Tim Gladis was fired from his $62,567 annual job in July. One of the reasons was because Florida-based RRC Consultants Inc. — hired by the commissioners — reported there was no plan to resolve the wireless problem.

Karen Davies, interim 911 director, said she was unaware the planning committee would be reconvened.

"I have enough on my plate," Davies said Tuesday, noting that she would probably be told of the commissioners' action at today's meeting. "I don't think they are hiding anything from me," she said, noting decisions such as the committee are being made by the commissioners' office.

A new director should be hired by commissioners the first of the year, Carson explained.

The composition of the committee is outlined in state statute. Its first meeting will be at 1 p.m. Nov. 22, in the commissioners' hearing room.

Serving will be Commissioner Daniel E. Polivka, representing the commissioners; Warren Mayor Michael J. O'Brien, mayor of the most populous city in the county; a Howland Township trustee (the largest township); a member selected by all township trustees; and the chief executive of a municipal corporation selected by the legislative authority of all municipalities in the county.

Other business

On another matter, commissioners won't be hiring a Cleveland law firm to conduct negotiations with sheriff's deputies until they hear from Sheriff Thomas Altiere.

Altiere has recommended that Johnson, Angelo & Colaluca LLC be hired at $135 per hour for collective bargaining with more than 100 deputies who are members of the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. Their contract expired Sept. 30.

Commissioner James Tsagaris questioned why local law firms couldn't be hired, reducing the cost of billable travel time. Tsagaris said he didn't want to make a decision until the sheriff provides more information.

James Keating, director of county human resources, said a law firm specializing in labor negotiations is needed.

Altiere said the law firm has previously been involved in labor negotiations at his department, and he believes that hiring the out-of-town firm saves the county money in the long run.

yovich@vindy.com

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From the Warren Tribune Chronicle on 11/2/2005...

911 committee to reconvene
By JOHN GOODALL Tribune Chronicle

WARREN - Trumbull County commissioners are reconvening the 911 Planning Committee. The committee's first task will be to address the emergency cell phone call problem.

Also today, the commissioners were to return two furloughed 911 employees and move two part-time workers to full-time status. The center had been operating with limited staff because of the county's budget crisis.

When a 911 call is made from a cell phone purchased in Trumbull County, it is answered at the Ohio State Highway Patrol barracks in Southington. The patrol dispatcher answers, finds out where the caller is and transfers the call to the community's proper radio site.

Sprint now has the technology to send cell phone 911 calls directly to where they should go, a representative of the telephone company said. County Administrator Anthony Carson Jr. said Sprint will make those changes as soon as the 911 Planning Committee calls for them in amendments to phase in one of its 911 plans.

The amendments would free up more than $300,000 the state has been holding in escrow for Trumbull's 911 system, Carson said. That money is generated by a surcharge on monthly cell phone bills.

An initial meeting of the 911 Planning Committee has been set for 1 p.m. Nov. 22 at the commissioners' hearing room.

Five members have been appointed to the committee. The makeup is determined by state law: the president of the commissioners; the chief executive of the most populous city, Warren; a trustee from Howland, also based on population; a member selected by the remainder of trustees in the county; and a municipal chief executive chosen by a majority of city councils.

After addressing the cell phone issue, the committee will work on other matters such as the 911 system's funding formula, Carson said.

Member communities in the 911 operation pay only 20 percent of the true cost of the service. The county's strapped general fund subsidizes the other 80 percent, officials said.

A consultant's study of the 911 operation has recommended that all except one of the other seven dispatching sites in the county be consolidated with the 911 Center for cost efficiency. One other site should remain as a backup, the study said.

The administrator said the 911 Center director will work on a consolidation plan, once a hiring for that post takes place. Carson said a company holding a nationwide search for the county is expected to have a list of finalists for director after Thanksgiving. The director's position has been vacant since the firing of Timothy Gladis in July.

jgoodall@tribune-chronicle.com

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From the Warren Tribune Chronicle on 11/15/2005...

Cities rushed by 911 panel

By AMY McCULLOUGH Tribune Chronicle

A series of special meetings may be popping up around Trumbull County as municipalities rush to meet the Nov. 22 deadline to name a representative to sit on the 911 Planning Committee.

County commissioners voted Nov. 2 to reconvene the planning committee, saying the first task will be to address the emergency cell phone call problem.

But before the committee can tackle its first task, each municipality and the county Township Association must designate representatives to sit on the panel - a task that is turning out to be a bit more difficult than expected.

Through e-mails and telephone calls, various mayors are attempting to work together to find somebody willing to serve on the committee. But until a consensus is made, time is being wasted.

According to the Ohio Revised Code, Commissioner Dan Polivka must serve on the committee since he is the president of the board of county commissioners. Warren Mayor Michael J. O'Brien also will serve since Warren is the largest municipality.

That leaves three open positions - one being the chief executive officer of either the largest municipality or township, whichever is bigger; a member selected by the township association; and the last member selected by majority vote of all municipalities, Warren Law Director Gregory Hicks said.

The problem is two-fold, Hicks said. First, there are only 30 days to select a representative once the commissioners passed the resolution, meaning that unless each of the municipalities have a regularly scheduled meeting that falls during that time, they must schedule a special one.

Secondly, there is an apparent error in the original resolution passed by the county, naming a member from the Howland Township Board of Trustees as an automatic member even though Niles Mayor Ralph Infante should have been named because Niles is larger than Howland, Hicks said.

"They should have had some meetings and said here is what we are going to do, let's talk about it, let's get ready,'' Hicks said. "Instead, we had the county coming in saying, 'We did it. Now you folks have to jump through these hoops.' ''

Hicks said it is likely the county will have to amend the existing resolution before Nov. 22.

Repeated attempts to reach commissioners and the county administrator were unsuccessful. Monday's commissioners meeting was canceled and the next regularly scheduled meeting is not until Nov. 23.

Cortland Mayor Curt Moll agreed that the process is "very confusing,'' but said he hopes, as long as a consensus is reached, a representative will be able to attend the meetings even if all the municipalities have yet to vote. Moll said Cortland City Council likely will vote on a resolution at Monday's meeting.

Warren will hold a special call meeting today at 5:30 p.m. prior to the council as a whole meeting to vote on the resolution. As of Monday afternoon, the name expected to be voted on for the 911 panel is Newton Falls Mayor Thomas Moorehead; however, that name has been changed three times, said Darla K. Neugebauer, clerk of council.

Both Hubbard City and Girard had City Council meetings Monday, but neither council had a 911 resolution on the agenda.

Girard Mayor James J. Melfi said he wants Girard to be part of the process, but is still working on who the city wants to nominate.

Hubbard Mayor Arthur Magee said that as soon as a candidate is chosen, the city will decide what to do. At this point, he has not spoken to any of the other mayors about the issue.

Attempts to reach Infante were unsuccessful Monday.

Howland Trustee Richard Orwig said he was not aware of any changes in the original county resolution as of Friday, but said the county Township Association is expected to meet Thursday in Hartford and will most likely vote on a representative at that meeting.

"As long as we get a committee going and do what we are supposed to do, we're not going to fight about it,'' Orwig said.

amccullough@tribune-chronicle.com

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From the Warren Tribune Web Site on 11/16/2005...

Niles to get seat on 911 committee
By JOHN GOODALL Tribune Chronicle

WARREN - Trumbull County commissioners will meet in special session Tuesday to include Niles in the process of revising the 911 plan.

A representative from that city mistakenly was left off the panel when commissioners passed a resolution Nov. 2 creating the 911 Planning Committee. The county officials will correct that error when they hold the special meeting next week.

The action will take place in time for the planning committee's first meeting, scheduled for later that day.

State law determines the makeup of the five-member committee. After including the president of the board of commissioners and the chief executive of the county's most populous city, the law calls for the third member of the panel to be either a representative of the largest township or the chief executive of the second biggest city - depending which is more populous.

The Nov. 2 resolution erroneously substituted Howland for Niles. Commissioners will remove the township from the panel when they bring in Niles.

Remaining members of the panel are a representative chosen by township trustees across the county and a municipal chief executive selected by a majority of city councils.

Warren City Council voted in a special call Tuesday to nominate Newton Falls Mayor Thomas Moorehead to serve on the panel. Mayor Michael J. O'Brien said Moorehead had volunteered to serve.

Assistant Prosecutor Jason Earnhart said it is advisable, though not absolutely critical, for commissioners to correct the makeup of the committee before its first meeting. Four legitimate members of the panel would have been enough to take action, he noted.

The committee's first step will be to address Trumbull's cell phone situation. All 911 calls made from cell phones bought in the county are routed to the Ohio State Highway Patrol barracks in Southington - regardless of where the caller is located.

Dispatchers at the barracks question the callers and transfer them to the proper radio sites. Sprint now has the technology to send 911 cell phone calls directly to where they should go, a telephone company representative said.

But before that change can be made, the county must revise its 911 plan.

The change for cell phones also will free up more than $300,000 the state is holding in escrow for Trumbull's 911 system. That money is from a surcharge on monthly cell phone bills.

Later, the planning committee will take up other issues regarding 911. They include adjusting its funding formula and consolidating other dispatching centers into the system for efficiency.

Communities that are members of the 911 system pay only 20 percent of its true cost. The county's strapped general fund subsidizes the other 80 percent.

Trumbull has seven other dispatching sites besides the Howland 911 Center. A consultant's study recommended all but one be merged into the center to reduce expenses.

jgoodall@tribune-chronicle.com

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Published in the Youngstown Vindicator on Wednesday, November 23, 2005...

Group formed to revamp system

The panel's primary goal is to get wireless 911 service running ASAP.

By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

WARREN — As its first official act, the Trumbull County 911 Planning Committee established the composition of a technical advisory subcommittee.

The subcommittee will be responsible for making decisions about the necessary equipment needed to put together a system that will enable emergency personnel to locate wireless 911 callers.

Under the current arrangement, wireless 911 calls made in the county go to the Ohio State Highway Patrol post in Southington, and troopers there have to rely on information the caller provides to determine the caller's whereabouts.

Money being collected on wireless users' phone bills is being placed in escrow to pay for the system.

Once the planning committee has made some crucial decisions about how the system will operate, the money will be released to pay for it, Nancy C. Serafino, a Sprint representative, explained Tuesday.

The new planning committee members were just getting to know each other as they fine-tuned the composition of the subcommittee.

Planning committee members are Warren Mayor Michael O'Brien; Niles Mayor Ralph Infante; county Commissioner Daniel Polivka; Newton Falls Mayor Thomas Moorehead; Donald J. Barzak, Johnston Township trustee; and Karen Davies, interim 911 director.

Those on board

They appointed these people to the technical advisory committee:

U Chad McFadden, Alltel Corp.
U Steve Kristan, SBC.
U Lisa Flask, Sprint.
U Dave Hendershot, Orwell Phone Co.
U Chief Keith Barrett, Brookfield fire department.
U Howland Police Chief Paul Monroe.
U Linda Beil, county emergency management director.
U A member of a county township trustee board.
U Lt. Joe Dragovich, commander of the OSHP Southington post.
U Sheriff Thomas Altiere.
U Serafino.
U A police chief from a city in the county.
U A fire chief from a city in the county.

Dragovich reminded the planning committee one of the top reasons it was being reconvened after an absence of seven years was to find a way to relieve the highway patrol of handling all the wireless calls.

He said one dispatcher is usually all that is on duty at one time, and that person has a lot of responsibilities in keeping track of the movements and needs of his road patrol officers.

Having to talk to a wireless caller for several minutes to determine the location of the caller and the caller's problem has made the dispatchers' job nearly impossible, Dragovich added.

He asked the planning committee to try to relieve the pressure on the dispatchers "as soon as possible" by getting the new wireless system in place.

Serafino said Trumbull County and Ohio, in general, are behind many other areas trying to get the wireless system started. Indiana has the system already, she said, noting she first became involved with wireless 911 issues more than 10 years ago.

runyan@vindy.com

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From the Warren Tribune on 11/23/2005...

911 routing panel formed
By JOHN GOODALL Tribune Chronicle

WARREN - The 911 Planning Committee named a group to recommend to it how to handle emergency cellular calls and to estimate the cost of the changes.

In its first meeting Tuesday since it was reconvened by commissioners, the 911 panel appointed a 13-member technical advisory committee. Nancy Serafino of Sprint, one of those named to the committee, said it could have the recommendations in as little as three weeks.

Lt. Joe Dragovich of the Ohio State Highway Patrol barracks in Southington, asked the 911 committee to alter cellular call handling as quickly as possible.

"It's a matter of safety and efficiency,'' he said.

The barracks is being swamped with 911 cell phone calls, he said. All emergency cellular calls from phones sold in Trumbull County are routed to OSP, regardless of where they originate.

Dragovich said OSP often has one dispatcher on a turn. The barracks has taken 35,319 calls so far this year, he said.

If the committee recommends routing cell phone 911 calls to the eight dispatching centers in the county in the same manner as land-line telephones, the process will be relatively simple, Serafino said. The technology necessary would not be expensive, she added.

She said the committee must decide whether it wants to take all the cellular 911 calls off OSP. Other counties have done that in addressing the cell phone problem, the Sprint representative said.

Trumbull has until 2008 to address cell phones in its 911 plan.

The state is holding more than $300,000 in escrow for the county's 911 system. The money is being generated by a surcharge on cellular phone bills.

If the county doesn't amend its 911 plan by 2008 to provide for cellular calls, it would lose the funds.

Besides Serafino, other members named to the committee were Chad McFadden , Alltel; Steve Kristan, SBC; Dave Hendershot, Orwell Phone Co.; Brookfield fire Chief Keith Barrett; Howland police Chief Paul Monroe; Linda Beil, Trumbull Emergency Management Agency; a township trustee representative; Dragovich; and Sheriff Thomas Altiere.

At the suggestion of Warren Mayor Michael O'Brien, who noted that there were no representatives from cities on the committee, the 911 Planning panel voted to add both a city police and fire chief to the group.

jgoodall@tribune-chronicle.com

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From the WFMJ TV21 Web Site on 3/8/2006...

Mahoning and Trumbull Counties Discuss 911 Merger
Susan Deleo

Mahoning and Trumbull counties are taking about joining forces to form one 911 dispatch center.

Right now each county has it's own dispatch center, but proponents say a new joint center would be more economic and efficient over time.

Mahoning County is spearheading the plan. The next step is to hire a consultant and to find out which departments would make up the joint dispatch center.

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From the Youngstown Vindicator on 4/28/2006...

8 answering points will share funds for enhanced 911 system

The origin of cellular 911 calls will be pinpointed automatically.

By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

WARREN — Funds for the enhanced wireless 911 system will be divided among eight 911 answering points in Trumbull County according to the population each answering point serves.

The county's 911 planning committee decided that dollar outlay Thursday.

The county is to receive from the state this year some $393,584 derived from a 32-cent-a month surcharge paid by wireless phone customers. The money will pay for equipment needed to track the location of 911 calls made from cellular phones.

All 911 calls made from cellular phones in Trumbull County are now answered by the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Southington, which handled at least 39,000 such calls last year.

The first phase of development of the enhanced 911 wireless system will be to have cellular 911 calls answered by one of the eight local answering points beginning this summer, depending on which cellular phone tower the call goes to.

The second phase will be technology to enable emergency call takers to automatically locate the origin of the cellular 911 call within a narrow range.

Interim county 911 director Karen Davies said she has requested and is now awaiting maps from about 10 cellular phone companies serving the county concerning the locations of their cellular phone towers to allow phase one to begin.

The points

The 911 answering points, with the population served and percentage of the county's 224,292 population, are:

Trumbull County 911 Center in Howland, 92,373; 40 percent.

Warren Police Department, 46,832; 21 percent.

Niles Police Department, 33,126 (Niles, Weathersfield, McDonald); 15 percent.

Liberty Township Police Department, 12,661; 6 percent.

Girard Police Department, 10,902; 5 percent.

Lordstown Police Department, 10,590 (Lordstown and Warren Township); 5 percent.

Newton Falls, 9,524 (Newton Falls and Newton Township); 4 percent.

Hubbard Police Department, 8,284; 4 percent.

milliken@vindy.com

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From the Warren Tribune Chronicle on 4/28/2006...

911 centers to divide cell phone surcharge
By JOHN GOODALL Tribune Chronicle

WARREN — Money the state is holding in escrow for 911 equipment will be distributed among Trumbull County’s eight dispatching centers.

Trumbull’s 911 Planning Committee reconvened Thursday to begin overseeing changes in the handling of emergency cellular calls. Those changes will put the county in compliance with state regulations and free the money being held.

Percentages received by the dispatching center will be based on the population they serve. The lion’s share will go to the county 911 Center, followed by the cities of Warren and Niles.

About $200,000 is available to Trumbull after six months of collections, county Administrator Anthony Carson said. The money comes from a surcharge on cell phone bills that is aimed at having cellular 911 calls routed to the proper dispatching point. The state has estimated that the surcharge will generate $393,584 annually for the county.

Currently, all cellular calls in the county go to the Ohio State Highway Patrol barracks in Southington, where the patrol manually transfers them to the corresponding police agency.

In phase one of the changes, alterations will be made to cellular towers to divide calls among the dispatching centers. Three directional pieces of equipment on each tower will send calls to the proper dispatching center.

Interim 911 Director Karen Davies sent letters notifying cell phone companies of the county’s plans. The companies have six months to respond, but probably will act quicker, Carson said. They will provide the county with maps of their towers. Carson projected that the changes are months away at this time.



jgoodall@tribune-chronicle.com

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911 issues cell call warning
Story by JOHN GOODALL, Warren Tribune Chronicle on 11/2/2006.

WARREN — Dispatching centers across Trumbull County were warned to be extremely careful in handling cellular 911 calls because the calls could be lost in a new system of multiple transfers.

‘‘What we’ve come up with is a very inexact science,’’ Trumbull 911 Director Michael Dolhancryk said of the process of redistributing emergency cellular calls. ‘‘It’s dangerous — very, very dangerous.’’

The calls are being taken away from the Ohio State Highway Patrol barracks in Southington, where they had been routed automatically and spread out among the eight dispatching centers in the county. As cellular traffic increased over the years, the barracks became swamped by the calls.

Now there is no way to predict which center will get what call, Dolhancryk told the 911 Review Board Wednesday. That will vary according to where the caller happens to be at the time and the telephone company being used, he said.

It is likely that a cellular 911 call will have to be transferred among centers multiple times, Dolhancryk said. That drastically increases the chance that a call will be lost, he added.

‘‘The dispatcher must stay with the cellular call until it is confirmed that it is passed off to another center,’’ Dolhancryk said. ‘‘All PSAPS (centers) must be aware of that. Otherwise, we’re going to get a call abandoned.’’

He told the board that he would issue a directive to the employees at Trumbull 911 to stay on the line until they hear another center and the cellular caller communicating. The board then voted to have that step mailed to the other seven centers in the county as a recommendation.

Dolhancryk said the danger of losing cellular calls mounts at the smaller, one-person centers where the dispatcher might become overwhelmed. Had he been on the job at the time, the director told the board that he would have advised that the cellular calls be routed to the Trumbull center when they were taken from the patrol barracks.

Board member Darlene St. George asked if it were now too late for Trumbull 911 to take all the cellular calls. Dolhancryk replied that it was not, but noted that many telephone companies have already made changes in their towers to reroute emergency cellular calls to the various centers.

At the board’s urging, Dolhancryk will compile information on what the Trumbull 911 center would need in order to be able to handle all cellular emergency calls. The director said that if some adjustments are made, it could be possible for the center to do the work without additional staff.



jgoodall@tribune-chronicle.com

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Trumbull 911 director ups the ante
Story by Ed Runyan in teh Youngstown Vindicator on 1/31/2007.

WARREN — Trumbull County 911 director Michael Dolhancryk, continuing his effort to get some of the smaller emergency dispatching centers in the county to join his operation, said it could soon be time to cut off some funding support to these centers.

Speaking today to the 911 Review Board, Dolhancryk said he will recommend that the board at some point discontinue the roughly $150,000 per year in free maintenance the county provides to the smaller dispatching centers for their dispatching equipment.

He said the county’s current 911 plan expires May 31, and he is recommending that the next agreement eliminate the free maintenance to the centers in Liberty, Girard, Newton Falls, Warren Township, Niles, Hubbard and Lordstown.

The exception would be that one of the larger centers, such as Niles or Warren, might be able to keep its dispatching money if it agreed to be the county center’s backup.

Dolhancryk, who has been director since last fall, said he is taking the position that the county should no longer subsidize the dispatching operations of departments that do not meet standards of the National Fire Protection Association. The standards require at least two dispatchers to be on duty at a time at dispatching centers that handle fire calls.

Dolhancryk said he hopes the dispatching centers will lose the fear of having their calls dispatched by the county 911 center by later in the year, when he expects to have an improved geographic information system (GIS) map in use.

At today’s meeting, the board approved a resolution recommending to county commissioners that they spend $450,000 of the money provided through a 32-cent, per-customer, per-month wireless charge in Ohio for the mapping project.

Dolhancryk said he hopes to have the project completed by this fall, and for a couple of dispatching centers to make the switch to the county system by the start of next year.

He said the improved GIS should eliminate officer safety concerns that have been raised by departments that say dispatchers in a countywide system don’t know their specific communities well enough to dispatch calls there effectively.

Getting accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies within the next two years should also convince the dispatching centers that the county 911 center will remain a reliable center for years to come, Dolhancryk said.

With the new GIS, dispatchers will be able to pinpoint call locations much better than now, and dispatchers won’t need to know an area personally to be able to provide officers with good information, Dolhancryk has said. The system will also be useful to other departments that use mapping, such as the county’s tax map department, Dolhancryk added.

He said one of the dispatching centers pays around $260,000 per year to have one dispatcher on duty at all times. The county dispatch center could provide dispatching to that community with multiple dispatchers available at all times for about half that cost, Dolhancryk said.