Trumbull County 911 System

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Consolidating Dispatch Centers
Story from the WYTV Channel 33 Web Site on 1/31/2007.

Trumbull County commissioners are taking an aggressive approach to bring all police and fire dispatching to the county 911 center.

As Peggy Sinkovich reports, county officials say it's time for the county's eight individual dispatching centers to join 911.

The county's 911 center has been up and running since 1993.

But several communities, including Niles and financially strapped Girard, have refused to join and instead keep their own dispatch centers.

County 911 director Mike Dolhancryk says it costs more money for the communities to operate their own centers, and it may get more expensive.

He is proposing that the county no longer pay for equipment for the individually run centers, and also stop paying for maintenance agreements on the equipment they currently have.

Dolhancryk says, "Ethically and professionally we can't spend money on these independent centers when we have serious needs we need to address for the people we serve. We can't take care of those organizations."

Commissioners also say they believe the center can offer the same level of service the communities have now.

Many of the communities that have their own centers, say the main reason they keep their centers is officer safety.

They believe it's better to have dispatchers who have knowledge of the local community.

But commissioners say a new mapping system the county is purchasing will take care of that problem.

The 400,000 digital mapping will make it possible for dispatcher to know exactly where the emergency call is coming from.

The 911 review committee will meet again February 28th, and they hope to have representatives from all the communities at that meeting.

In Warren, Peggy Sinkovich, 33 News.

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Consolidating 9-1-1 Services In Trumbull County
Story from the WYTV Channel 33 Web Site on 02/11/2007.

 The thought of consolidating services has been discussed by many valley communities but as Peggy Sinkovich tells us, in Trumbull County,  there are many city and townships that are reluctant to join together.

     Hubbard city, Newton Falls, Lordstown, Liberty, all small communities nestled inside Trumbull County.  Living here means you pretty much know everyone on a first name basis and when you pick up your phone and call 9-1-1 chances are you know the person answering the call.   "We know our citizens, we know the calls we go on everyday, I keep hearing about this digital map but we have never lost a call or not been able to find a citizen."  Said dispatcher, Jim Luonuansuu.  Officials in these communities stand firm on a belief that citizens in their areas are willing to pay more to keep the local service and are against consolidating 911 services.  Yet,  a WYTV/Survey USA poll of 800 adults in our area in August of last year showed differently with a majority of people in favor of a single 911 service.  Right now departments with their own dispatch center are paying $250,000.00 a year for dispatching.  The county says it can provide the service for about $130,000.00 a year.  But local chiefs argue they won't be saving that much money because they will still have to keep their departments open 24 hours.  "We won't be able to shut down.  I can't have an empty building, we have a holding facility someone has to be on station."  Said Hubbard City Police Chief, Marty Kanestsky.

      County officials say that other small communities like Champion, Hubbard Township, Bazetta and Howland have been part of the 9-1-1 system and they haven't had any major problems and citizens haven't complained.  Recently 9-1-1 dispatchers were honored for finding a woman in Champion who was threatening to kill herself and her husband.  Officials from the eight independent dispatch centers in the county will meet soon to discuss the county's push to have them join.

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This argument has been going on for years. These communities are doing a real diservice to their citizens. 9-1-1 is the only way to go and having every community with their own dispatchers is playing games with people lives. Everybody does not know everybody that Mayberry attitude causes delays which can kill. Time to wake up and smee the humus

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Foes to offer 911 alternative
Story by JOHN GOODALL Tribune Chronicle on 2/28/2007.

WARREN — An alternative to regionalizing emergency dispatching will be presented today to the 911 Review Committee by groups alarmed by the prospect of consolidation.

Niles police Chief Bruce Simeone said he believes townships and municipalities lose personal attention when communications are regionalized.

‘‘We’re of the opinion, we want to stay status quo as far as going to one central dispatch,’’ Simeone said. ‘‘The best thing is, we’re (independents) working together.’’

Finishing touches will be put on the alternative plan at a meeting of Trumbull’s seven independent dispatching centers just before the committee session. It was put together by representatives of the independents and the police chiefs association.

It will address financial concerns and relieving pressure on dispatchers through shared call arrangements, the chief said.

Independent representatives said their centers should get some of the hundreds of thousands in cell phone surcharge money that is being held in escrow by the state. Those funds shouldn’t go strictly to the county 911 center, they said.

Simeone’s sentiments were echoed by Newton Falls police Chief Robert Carlson: ‘‘Just leave it alone.’’

Carlson said most of the independents have temporary jails. The dispatchers on hand there 24 hours a day also take on other duties such as corrections officer and court clerk, the chief said.

He noted that the Ohio State Highway Patrol brings motorists nabbed on the turnpike to Newton Falls dispatch after hours for bonding and waivers. If the community opted to merge with the Trumbull 911 Center, it would still have to pay someone to perform those duties.

‘‘We’d be paying twice,’’ Carlson said. ‘‘At least now, we already have the dispatcher there to do it.’’

One local dispatcher blamed the hiring of a new 911 center director on the drive toward regionalization.

Dispatcher Jim Luonuansuu, who will represent both Lordstown and Newton Falls at the meetings, said, ‘‘They hired this man with the intent that he do everything possible to close your local dispatch centers and force all dispatching to be done from the main 911 center in Howland.’’

Mike Dolhancryk, the director, has said his approach is to make merging so attractive that the independents want to come aboard.

A key element to that is cost. The county center could perform dispatching for an average community for $130,000 annually— compared to $250,000 for the average independent, he said.

The savings could allow a community to put another policeman or two on the street, the director said.

Dolhancryk also contended that a centralized operation with numerous dispatchers would better safeguard emergency responders. He asked how attentive radio operators might be to a call from a police or fire unit when those dispatchers are handling jail or clerk duties.

Some changes might be coming in the way the emergency call system operates when the current 911 plan expires May 31, Dolhancryk said. He said he would not recommend that the county continue to fund the purchase and maintenance of 911 equipment for the independents.

Luonuansuu said the independents would challenge that change. He said he expected to have a legal opinion by today that would bar any adjustments to the plan without a vote from Trumbull communities.

The plan was adopted in 1992 by such a vote. Although it has been changed a number of times since then, Luonuansuu contended that was unlawful because it wasn’t altered through the same route.



jgoodall@tribune-chronicle.com

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Joining the 911 System?
Story from the WFMJ TV33 Web Site on 3/1/2007.

Several Trumbull County communities are hung up about joining the county's 911 system.

And as Peggy Sinkovich reports, leaders from these areas voiced their concerns this afternoon.

Regionalizing emergency dispatching may not be the best decision, according to police officials and dispatchers from seven Trumbull County communities.

Capt. Tim Bowers with the Warren Police Department says, "All the P-SAPS want to continue answering 911 calls, again, status quo seems to working and so we should continue that."

Mike Dolhancryk, the county's 911 director, had suggested that the seven independent centers, or P-SAPS, consider joining Trumbull's 911 department.

He says he believes it could be cheaper for smaller communities and that a centralized operation allows more dispatchers to be available in case of a large scale emergency.

Dispatcher Jim Luonuansuu says, "In smaller P-SAPS we are serving one or two departments with one or two dispatchers. At the main center, some dispatchers are handling five or more departments for dispatching and still answering other phone calls at the same time."

Dolhancryk says he would like to recommend to commissioners to make changes to the 911 plan when it expires May 31, such as no longer paying to purchase and maintain 911 equipment for the independents.

The dispatching centers plan to challenge any changes saying alterations cannot be made without a vote from the communities.

One things both sides did agree on is that more work has to be done before deciding the best way to proceed.

A group made up of local police officials will look into the 911 system and plan and then report back to the 911 review committee in a few weeks.

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Steps begin on 911 future
Story by JOHN GOODALL Tribune Chronicle on 3/5/2007.

WARREN — Steps should get under way this week that ultimately will determine the future of 911 service in Trumbull County.

‘‘Everybody, including these communities (that operate independent dispatching centers) is going to have tough decisions to make in the next five or six weeks,’’ said Michael Dolhancryk, 911 Center director, said. Trumbull’s 911 plan that guides the service expires May 31, and officials hope to know where they are headed before then.

Dolhancryk expects to name a committee Monday that will look into the cost of operating an emergency dispatching system. Those figures could strongly influence the debate over whether to keep the seven independent dispatching sites or to merge them with the county 911 Center.

In July 2005, a Connecticut consulting firm that studied the local dispatching system urged consolidation of the independents with the central dispatch center, with the exception of Warren.

The more sites that exist, the more it will cost taxpayers, the consultant said.

Warren would continue to operate as a backup to the county, according to the recommendation.

‘‘Mike (Dolhancryk) came up with a formula to basically eliminate all the PSAPs (public service answering point), except for Warren,’’ said Warren police Capt. Tim Bowers, who has been a spokesman for the police chiefs association in the debate. ‘‘The police chiefs want to keep them. We have to find a way to do that.’’

Bowers said Warren’s computerized equipment for dispatching will become obsolete July 1 when the manufacturer no longer supports it because it is old and outdated. Replacement will cost $100,000, he said.

Dolhancryk is suggesting the county no longer buy and pay for maintenance of the equipment at the independent sites. It has become too expensive, he said.

But he denied that he is on a mission to close the independents.

‘‘I can’t shut down anybody’s PSAP,’’ the 911 director said. ‘‘But if they (communities) decide to keep them, they need to know all of the costs.’’

He said his task is to create options for the communities to consider.

‘‘Government runs on a river of money,’’ Bowers acknowledged of the financial forces at work. ‘‘There seems to be pressure that way (to consolidate), regardless of the quality of service.’’

Dolhancryk said there are two sources of funding at issue at the moment.

One is the 32-cent-per-month cell phone surcharge being held by the state in escrow for the counties. The other is Trumbull’s practice of buying and maintaining equipment at the independents.

Dolhancryk recommends using the $450,000 accumulated from the surcharge to update Trumbull’s computerized map, so cell phone calls can be pinpointed using Global Positioning System locators. The chiefs association wants the map updated, but only after new computerized dispatching equipment is bought for the independents through the surcharge.

There is a question, Dolhancryk said, whether updating the independents’ equipment is related to 911 cell phone calls enough to qualify for surcharge money. That determination must be made by the Trumbull 911 planning committee, he added.

Members of the chiefs association have cited Newton Falls Law Director Richard Schwartz’ opinion in contending that the commissioners can’t stop buying equipment for the independents with county funds as they have up to now.

Schwartz wrote that the original 1994 911 plan can’t be changed without a vote of legislative bodies representing 60 percent of the population of the county.

Dolhancryk questioned whether the commissioners funding practices could be considered part of the plan. Those officials by law are responsible for spending county tax dollars and probably never relinquished that control no matter what is stated in a plan, he said.



jgoodall@tribune-chronicle.com

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Trumbull wants 911 map
Story By JOHN GOODALL Tribune Chronicle on 4/8/2007.

WARREN — Trumbull County needs a $400,000 upgrade of its computerized map to create the accuracy that safety forces need when answering emergency calls, 911 Center Director Michael Dolhancryk believes.

Even officials connected with the county’s Geographic Information System agree the $2.3 million computerized map is not pinpointed enough for 911, even though it was highly touted as intricate and multi-useful when it was being done eight years ago.

Trumbull County paid a North Carolina firm to create the GIS map in 1999. Aerial photography, analytical studies and 160 ground markers that established latitude and longitude in line with satellites went into GIS.

Today, it serves such purposes as identifying the proximity of sexual predators to schools, plotting locations of crimes and showing locations of properties in relation to flood plains. But finding the location of 911 calls shouldn’t be among those uses, an employee with the GIS department said.

The county’s computerized map is not specific enough for 911, Dave Ranttila, GIS coordinator said. What GIS shows is a range of addresses — not an exact site — he said.

‘‘It’s an accuracy problem that they’re (911 personnel) worried about,’’ Ranttila said.

If GIS were to become the electronic map that 911 relied on, emergency crews responding to a call could be left rushing up and down a road in a rural area or mobile home park looking for the crisis, Dolhancryk said.

A number of errors have developed over the years in data and map overlays because of the inaccuracies in GIS, he said. And the more the computerized map is used, the larger those errors will become, he said.

Dolhancryk has recommended spending most of the $450,000 that has accumulated for Trumbull in cellular phone surcharges to upgrade the county map. That money is designated by the state to pinpoint the location of cell phone 911 calls.

Upgrading the map would cost about $400,000, the 911 director said. The county police chief’s association is not opposed to the idea, but wants to improve the map only after new computerized equipment is bought for the seven independent dispatching sites in Trumbull.

‘‘Not too many communities have an opportunity to do something like this,’’ Dolhancryk said of the proposed map update. ‘‘The money’s there. Why not use it and get it done?’’

Jim Luonuansuu, a dispatcher at Lordstown and Newton Falls and a spokesman for independent dispatching sites that oppose consolidation with the 911 center, said he does not know enough about the issue to determine whether updating the county’s map is critical. There might be cheaper alternatives, he said.

‘‘We’re just playing a wait-and-see game at this point,’’ Luonuansuu added.

Dolhancryk said that improving the map would give the county an unparalleled tool for public safety.

It would prevent an emergency vehicle from being sent down a road that shows as a through route on paper, but was never completely finished, he said. Neither dispatchers nor responding crews would have to guess about a turn that arrives 125 feet sooner or 125 feet later than it shows on a map.

‘‘It makes a big difference to rescuers whether the car that they got a cell phone call from is sitting in the middle of the road or 50 feet away in the middle of a stream,’’ the 911 director said. Firefighters, he said, would not have to search for a hydrant that an inaccurate map places in a backyard or doesn’t show at all.

A finely detailed basic map would have many uses that stretch beyond 911, Dolhancryk said. Other departments, such as sanitary engineer, highway engineer or the planning commission, townships and utilities can develop overlays for the electronic map.

Mahoning County is planning an update of its map that will cost at least a couple of hundred thousand dollars, Maggie McGee, who heads 911 there, said.

A company will be hired to conduct point-by-point studies on the ground at cell-phone towers that should be able to locate calls within a few feet, she said. There will be many man-hours involved in the work, she added.

Also, Mahoning’s GIS data will be merged with 911’s data base as part of the project.

Portage County divides its cellular surcharge accumulation among its dispatching centers, according to the population that each unit serves, officials there said.

jgoodall@tribune-chronicle.com

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New 911 equipment sought
Story by JOHN GOODALL in the Warren Tribune Chronicle on 6/7/2007.

WARREN — Citing safety fears over what they see as a fast-approaching deadline, law enforcement representatives asked Trumbull County commissioners to replace outdated equipment at independent dispatching centers.

EMBARQ, the telephone company from which the emergency equipment and software was purchased five years ago, will no longer guarantee it after June 30.

That endangers the public, police and firefighters, Niles police Chief Bruce Simeone, chairman of the Trumbull County Law Enforcement Executives Association, told commissioners Wednesday.

‘‘It’s a matter of service. It’s a matter of cost,’’ Simeone said. ‘‘We need to make sure we give our communities the best available service.’’

The association wants the commissioners to pay to have new equipment installed. In the past, the county has bought equipment for the seven independent centers in Trumbull as well as its 911 Emergency Center.

Michael Dolhancryk, 911 center director, has recommended the county stop paying for the independents’ equipment and maintenance. It’s become too expensive and discourages efficiency that can be gained through consolidation, he said.

Dolhancryk estimated that continuing the arrangement will cost the county $750,000 over the life of the equipment. Buying it for the independents would undermine efforts to get them to merge with the 911 center to lower costs, he said.

‘‘If we do that, we’ll be back here again in five years, and we won’t have taken a single step forward,’’ the director said.

Dispatcher Jim Luonuansuu said the independents — Warren, Niles, Liberty, Girard, Hubbard, Lordstown and Newton Falls — represent about 60 percent of the county’s population.

He asked commissioners if they are going to ignore the safety of those people.

That irritated Commissioner Daniel Polivka, who replied that safety was uppermost in the minds of he and his colleagues. But they must consider all the issues, he pointed out.

Dolhancryk said the deadline was somewhat artificial. Although EMBARQ won’t guarantee the dispatching equipment after June 30, the company will service it under a pay per call arrangement, the director said.

‘‘We’re not under the gun on this,’’ he advised commissioners.

The association said commissioners could pay for the equipment by adding a $3 surcharge annually to property taxes. That step was suggested when 911 service debuted, but was never adopted.

It also pointed out that $450,000 is being held in escrow by the state for Trumbull. Those funds are earmarked for the county to upgrade 911 service on cell phones.

The association said the county could use the money to replace dispatching equipment for the independents.

Dolhancryk said he was still awaiting an opinion from the state on whether money for wireless service could purchase equipment that, in large part, would be serving land-line phones.

Girard police Chief Frank Bigowsky asked commissioners to help preserve the independents’ status. They provide better service to their communities than could be obtained through consolidation at this point, he said.

Before merging is considered, Liberty police Chief Anthony Slifka said operations at the 911 center need to be substantially improved. Then consolidation would be too attractive to refuse, he said.

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911 dispatchers debate best way to serve residents
Story by JOHN GOODALL Tribune Chronicle on 7/1/2007.

Trumbull Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Kaintz lay in the woods for 45 minutes with a severely broken leg from an ATV accident before rescuers were able to pinpoint his location with the help of his cell phone.

His 911 call hadn’t been enough to allow rescuers to find him more quickly.

The scenario that played out several years ago in a rural Trumbull County township was exactly why 911 Center Director Michael Dolhancryk is lobbying to spend up to $500,000 the state is holding in escrow for an upgrade of Trumbull County’s computerized mapping system. The funds have been accumulating from a surcharge on monthly cellular phone bills.

But operators at seven independent dispatching centers located around Trumbull County have their own ideas about how that money should be spent.

Warren, Niles, Liberty, Girard, Hubbard, Newton Falls and Lordstown have their own dispatching centers. Part of the county’s $750,000 has equipped and maintained their operations, as well as the main Trumbull County 911 Center located in Howland.

And now representatives of the independent centers are asking again for Trumbull County to replace their outdated equipment. Dolhancryk wants that practice to stop.

Maintenance contracts on equipment housed at five of the seven independent dispatching locations was to set to expire Saturday, making the issue even more pressing.

A Connecticut consultant’s 2005 study of the system recommended that six of the seven independents be merged with the main 911 Center to halt duplication of costs. Warren would retain its operation and act as a backup in case the main dispatch center would fail.

Niles police Chief Bruce Simeone, chairman of the Trumbull Law Enforcement Executives Association, said some in his group want the county to continue to support the equipment needs of the independents and bring Liberty back into the arrangement. Liberty dropped out to go completely on its own.

‘‘We want to keep the status quo,’’ Simeone said. That provides the best level of service to individual communities, he said.

Liberty police Chief Anthony Slifka said the independent dispatching centers are reluctant to merge with the 911 Center because it suffers cuts whenever the county experiences financial hard times. He recommended changes in its funding formula.

Slifka said 911 Center member communities should pay for 50 percent of its cost, instead of the average of 20 percent they shoulder now. The county carries the remaining 80 percent.

Dolhancryk knows the merger is a major undertaking that’s not going to happen anytime soon, especially since Ohio hasn’t created incentives that might encourage consolidation, he said.

The director said other states have taxes or telephone surcharges that create large pots of money. Those funds are available for upgrades to dispatching systems that agree to merge.

The director said he believes he and the chiefs could reach common ground that would make the independent centers and the emergency dispatching system better operations. Those opportunities will come this summer as the current Trumbull County 911 plan is addressed.

Dolhancryk will be recommending a change that would nudge the contributions of member communities upward to 25 percent. That would be a five percent increase over the current arrangement.

That 75-25 percent formula is common in countywide 911 operations throughout the nation, the director said. It usually works well for both the county and the member communities, he added.

Ultimately, Dolhancryk would like to see the independents come on board with the main dispatch center.

Currently, the the state is holding in escrow $450,000 generated from Trumbull County cell phone surcharges that can be used to upgrade service and improve dispatching for 911 cellular calls.

The Trumbull Law Enforcement Executives Association wants the county to use the surcharge funds to buy new equipment for the independent centers.

But Dolhancryk, frustrated with the continuing inability to improve the existing system, says in five years, the independent centers will be back again with the same request.

‘‘I don’t care if they never come on board,’’ he said of the independent centers. ‘‘But I don’t see any progress. As a responsible administrator, I’ve got to see the money used wisely.’’

There are enough funds connected with 911 to make advancements if spent properly, the director said.

Dolhancryk intends to fight for the map and other upgrades. Progress has been stalled for too long, he said.

While today’s newer cell phones are equipped with Global Positioning System devices, Dolhancryk maintains an emergency response system is only as good as the map it is working off.

He believes creating a highly accurate map would tell searchers that a cellular call from a wrecked vehicle is coming from a stream or bottom of a hill, rather than a general range of addresses on a road, the director said. It also could pinpoint landline calls from apartments or rural areas, which also show up on current computerized maps as generalized areas, he said.

Upgrading the map would cost about $400,000. Much of that expense would be in man hours, conducting detailed point-by-point studies in the field.

A lot of money has been spent the past five years on handling emergency calls with nothing to show for it, Dolhancryk contends.

‘‘We’re not one iota better in taking 911 calls today than we were back then,’’ he said of the $750,000 the county expended in buying and servicing dispatching equipment over that period for Trumbull’s fractured emergency response system.

Dolhancryk also wants the independents to agree to have their 911 calls arrive directly at the county’s main dispatch center.

Some of them have one-dispatcher operations. Giving up 911 traffic would prevent small centers from being overwhelmed by the 25 or so calls they might get from numerous people spotting a fire or a bad car accident, Dolhancryk said.

The independents can keep the 10-digit, non-emergency calls, which are the lion’s share of their business, he said. Police chiefs that oversee the independent centers have argued that under consolidation they would lose personal contact with the community on such things as suspicious person tips or drug sales locations.

‘‘You don’t need a personal touch on 911 calls,’’ Dolhancryk said. ‘‘We already take (many) 911 wireless calls. Why would it not be OK for me to handle all the 911 landline calls, too?’’



jgoodall@tribune-chronicle.com

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Tales from county 911 centers
Story from the Tribune Chronicle on 7/1/2007.

GIRARD

To police Chief Frank Bigowsky, the question of who should answer residents’ 911 calls is an easy one to answer.

‘‘They’re entitled to the best service available. I don’t feel that the best service available would be at the 911 Center,’’ Bigowsky said.

Currently, Girard has three full-time dispatchers. The person working in the communications room on each shift handles all 911 and 10-digit calls, serves as a lifeline to officers on the road, fills record requests and juggles an assortment of reports, questions and complaints.

Girard’s equipment is all engineered for the future, as well, with two units available for a day when more than one dispatcher could be needed on one shift.

But what Bigowsky really finds to be an invaluable asset to having Girard’s own PSAP is the ability for dispatchers to stay on the line with callers or officers during emergency situations and having a familiarity with the area and details inherent to it.

‘‘Having that personal touch is invaluable,’’ he said.

Bigowsky said he also fears that there would be a lag time in calls received at the county center when a high number of calls are coming in. That, he said, could result in it taking longer to get a call or dispatch it to an officer on the street, potentially putting police or residents in danger.

‘‘I don’t have that problem here,’’ he said.

Capt. John Villecco added that going to the county 911 Center would drastically change how the police station is currently run. Dispatchers on duty 24 hours a day also handle all paperwork and act as jailers when an arrestee is being kept in Girard’s six-hour holding cell.

‘‘Both of those would have to be addressed ... they perform too many other duties,’’ Villecco said.

Bigowsky added to that thought, saying that while it’s been proposed that these local departments hire someone to fill a clerical position during business hours to handle calls and walk-ins, that simply isn’t going to work.

‘‘Is that secretary going to be responsible for monitoring that prisoner?’’ he asked.

And while Bigowsky admitted that he believes regionalization and the combination of services is inevitable, he’s not sold on this proposed 911 plan being an ideal first step in doing that.

He would instead urge something more local, like the merger of police departments in Girard, Hubbard, Hubbard Township, Liberty and Vienna — communities that all fall under the jurisdiction of the Girard Municipal Court and could rather become a police precinct.

‘‘I would see that move first before I saw a move into the 911 Center, but we don’t have that. We don’t have that kind of regionalization,’’ he said.



HUBBARD

Police Chief Martin Kanetsky isn’t about to hypothesize on how a proposed merger with the Trumbull County 911 Center would impact his city.

‘‘It probably won’t affect us because we won’t join it,’’ he said simply.

Kanetsky said Hubbard is so committed to keeping its own Public Safety Answering Point, or PSAP, that the city is willing to pay for it on its own if that has to be the case.

And proof that that is what city residents want is in the bricks and mortar that surround dispatchers every single day, he said.

Voters approved a 0.5-percent income tax increase in November 2004, to replace the aged, outdated and mold-laden police station on West Liberty Street. In June 2006, the Hubbard Safety Center was opened and in it came all new, updated 911 equipment.

And under the current contract with the county, the $37,000 spent on the equipment should be covered — something Kanetsky is still waiting to happen.

‘‘We’re willing to pay for it, but we shouldn’t have to be,’’ he said.

A promised savings of $125,000 from its current cost of $250,000 for 911 has been offered by the county through a merger, and a push all around has been made for those departments with PSAPs now to instead be manned during business hours by a clerk to handle record requests and 10-digit calls.

But Kanetsky said that simply isn’t the service promised to Hubbard residents.

‘‘The citizens of this community built this building not to shut it down at 5 o’clock,’’ he said.

Recalling five times in his own career that someone pulled up to the police station while having a heart attack, Kanetsky said it’s that openness that the public has come to expect. But in addition to personal service provided, the chief reminded that the station also is home to a 12-hour holding cell that also must be manned.



LIBERTY

 The catch-phrase ‘‘community identity’’ isn’t one you’ll hear tossed out from the mouth of police Chief Anthony Slifka when discussing what kind of local loss would be seen through a merger with the Trumbull County 911 Center.

Instead, what he’s focused on is service.

Slifka is lobbying for Liberty’s PSAP to remain where it is until he’s offered a plan that actually enhances what he is able to provide to citizens right now.

‘‘That’s what it comes down to. It doesn’t work any better,’’ he said.

A case referred to often, Liberty is one community that has in the past joined with the county and later opted to leave, paying now for its PSAP entirely out of pocket. Unable to continue to fund the service for much longer, the township will ask voters in November to pass a 1.25-mill five-year renewable levy to be used for telecommunications and generate about $290,000 a year.

Right at home, Slifka said Liberty offers the community someone to answer emergency and non-emergency calls 24 hours a day, to monitor the jail, handle records and filing, stay on the line with callers and officers until an emergency is resolved and to have a general familiarity with the township and its residents.

And as Liberty moves toward more and more expansion with a Wal-Mart store on the way and other large chains like Sheetz and Home Depot expressing interest in property on Belmont Avenue, Slifka said he’s anticipating that with more business will come more crime and that having the ability to handle calls locally will be vital now more than ever.

Breaking the numbers down call for call, Slifka believes that in the end, the proposal for the county merger doesn’t save the township any money when most of its calls now are made on 10-digit lines. So urges for local police stations to simply man their departments with someone to handle clerical work and answer those non-emergency calls is something that simply doesn’t make sense.

‘‘It would cost me a lot more to keep this place open just for them to answer three percent of my calls,’’ he said.

But aside from the dollars and cents, Slifka said that at this point with Liberty’s own dispatchers, there remains a knowledge of the community and its residents that has a very essence of being personal.

‘‘How do I measure that? How do I put that in a dollar figure?’’ he said.

jkovacs@tribune-chronicle.com



Lordstown

By MARLY KOSINSKI

Tribune Chronicle

LORDSTOWN — Police Chief Brent Milhoan said village residents like having their own dispatchers answer their calls for help, and gain peace of mind knowing those dispatchers are right down the street instead of several miles away.

He said village dispatchers also perform other important functions like accepting waivers for traffic tickets, copying crash reports, assisting walk-in customers with directions, calling out officers to fill shifts for call-offs, filing, entering LEADS information, data entry, preparing criminal charges for non-traffic offenses for officers to sign, and witnessing custody exchanges.

In addition, Milhoan said dispatchers answer calls about power, phone and cable outages, and assist callers asking about community events like fireworks, parades and trick-or-treat.

‘‘Sometimes, that call about a power outage may be the only contact that resident has with the police department. So it’s important to keep that connection,’’ he said.

On Feb. 26, Milhoan had his dispatchers create a new code to keep track of walk-in traffic, an idea he got from Liberty Township police Chief Anthony Slifka. He said there were nearly 300 walk-ins the first month.

‘‘Where would those people have gone for information or directions if we weren’t here?’’ he asked.

Under contract, Warren Township also pays Lordstown $44,600 annually for dispatching service.

Milhoan said he understands the push to consolidate 911 services as a way to save money.

‘‘But sometimes, cost is not the only thing to consider,’’ he said.

mkosinski@tribune-chronicle.com



Newton Falls

By BILL RODGERS

Tribune Chronicle

NEWTON FALLS — Newton Falls police will keep an open mind about joining a proposed Trumbull County-wide merger of 911 dispatching, said police Chief Robert Carlson. He was just hard-pressed to think of something positive to say about it.

‘‘If our dispatch went to the center, we’d still have to pay someone to be here for jail and court,’’ Carlson said.

Carlson said the problem was that the city’s 911 dispatchers wear a couple different hats. According to a job description for the city, a 911 dispatcher from his or her desk in Newton Falls might collect fines, book prisoners in the jail and monitor an alarm board for businesses in the city.

Newton Falls dispatchers handle calls for the city police, Newton Township police and the Newton Falls Joint Fire District which covers both the city and the township.

Carlson said the dispatchers also take non-emergency calls for city entities including the water and street departments. Recently, Waste Water Department Superintendent John Nemet was collecting call data from the police station to study issues of flooding sewers in the city.

This means, Carlson said, that if Newton Falls went with the merger, they would still have to pay someone to sit at the city station to take care of those other duties. If the city paid to join the merger, they could be hit twice.

City manager Jack Haney said he planned to meet with Carlson next week to consider which option would provide better dispatching service for the city.

‘‘We’ll look at our options and see what’s best for the community,’’ Haney said.

Haney said after the meeting with the chief, that he would give a recommendation to City Council.

brodgers@tribune-chronicle.com




Niles

By AMANDA SMITH-TEUTSCH

Tribune Chronicle

NILES — It was spotty service, unanswered calls and wrong addresses that eventually drove Weathersfield police from the county 911 center to dispatching by Niles.

‘‘We were having service problems,’’ said Weathersfield Township police Chief Joseph Consiglio. ‘‘We were not getting some things done that we were paying for.’’

Weathersfield officers were sent to wrong addresses, radio coverage in some areas was spotty and Weathersfield officers felt their radio traffic taking a back seat to other jurisidictions.

‘‘Each dispatcher was listening in to too many jurisdictions,’’ said Consiglio. ‘‘It’s very, very difficult to listen in to multiple jurisdictions at once.’’

Adding the two departments meant Niles had to upgrade its center, replacing old equipment, and also changes to city employment ordinances. The total cost for the center renovations came in at $500,000.

Before Weathersfield and McDonald joined the Niles dispatch center — the two departments share radio bandwidth — the Niles department did not track call volume, so there’s no way to compare the call impact, city officials said. Costs to operate the center went up to $380,095 from $260,000 the year before. Ten part-time dispatchers were hired, and the practice of using police officers to fill in as substitutes was eliminated. The extra cost is shared between Niles, Weathersfield and McDonald. The two other municipalities combined pay $95,558.

The Niles dispatchers do more than field police and fire calls, said Niles police chief Bruce Simeone. They also field after-hours calls for the city light, water and sewer and streets departments, he said. Additionally, they monitor the city jail, through an audio system.

Niles, which receives no county money to run the center, plans to keep its independent center in the future, Simeone said.



ateutsch@tribune-chronicle.com



Warren

By RON SELAK JR.

Tribune Chronicle

WARREN — When the divide over how to spend almost a half-million dollars on emergency dispatching upgrades is closed, nothing will have changed in Warren.

‘‘The Warren Police Department is not changing,’’ said police Capt. Timothy A. Bowers. ‘‘We handle our calls as efficiently and economically as possible. We’re here, regardless of what they do,’’ Bowers said.

Officials in Warren and six other police agencies that handle their own police dispatching services are fighting to keep their independent dispatching service.

A consultant hired by Trumbull County, however, has always maintained that Warren should remain independent and serve as a backup to the county system.

‘‘The system that is in place is good, it’s the best that can be done,’’ Bowers said.

He says rather than using money to upgrade the county’s computerized map like the county’s 911 director has pushed, the money should be used to buy equipment at all the dispatch centers.

‘‘All the pieces of the system need to be on the same page,’’ Bowers said.

Warren, like other centers, offers residents ‘‘24/7’’ contact with their government to file reports, seek assistance or even getting a car out of impound, Bowers said.

Last year, Warren’s 12 dispatchers handled more than 130,000 calls and almost 280,000 radio traffic transmissions in addition to walk-in traffic.

rselak@tribune-chronicle.com

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911 talks make progress
Story by JOHN GOODALL in the Warren Tribune Chronicle on 7/12/2007.

WARREN — A glimmer of hope arose for a 911 compromise that could result in an upgrade in emergency dispatching.

Representatives of the county and Trumbull’s seven independent dispatching centers Wednesday for the first time made progress on how to spend what will be nearly a million dollars by the end of this year. The money is accumulating from a 32-cent surcharge on monthly cell-phone bills.

Lordstown, Newton Falls, Girard, Liberty, Hubbard, Niles and Warren operate their own centers. Other communities are dispatched through the county 911 Center.

‘‘I think there’s common ground,’’ Commissioner Paul Heltzel said at Wednesday’s meeting of the 911 Review Board. Girard police Chief Frank Bigowsky called the meeting the most productive of any that has taken place so far.

The county and the independents have been deadlocked on issues related to a proposed merger. A consultant’s 2005 study said a central countywide 911 system would be the most efficient way to approach emergency dispatching.

Representatives of the independents have asked the county to buy new equipment for their centers as it had in the past. Commissioners have resisted, contending that the county can no longer afford that practice.

That refocused attention on the cell-phone money that is being held by the state in escrow for Trumbull. It is to be used to improve 911 service on cellular calls.

About $450,000 was generated by the surcharge in 2006.

Michael Dolhancryk, county 911 Center director, wants to use the funds for a $400,000 upgrade to the county’s map. That improvement would allow emergency personnel to pinpoint the location of cell phone and other calls.

Representatives of the independents want the money to buy new dispatching equipment. Without that upgrade, they argue, a better map would be useless.

Heltzel said he believed that enough surcharge money will have accumulated by the end of this year to fund both the map and the equipment.

‘‘That’s what were asking — the commitment,’’ Niles police Chief Bruce Simeone said of the county’s openness to allowing the surcharge to be used to equip the independents.

Dolhancryk said he still does not favor that step. But he said he would not stand in the way if that’s what the Review Board and the 911 Planning Committee recommends.

Both of those panels and representatives of the independents will meet Aug. 15 with Public Utilities Commission of Ohio staff. They are seeking a PUCO opinion on whether the surcharge can legally be used for equipment for the independents.

The law that established the surcharge permits the money to be used for any purpose that provides enhanced service for wireless 911 calls.



jgoodall@tribune-chronicle.com

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State likely to OK 911 equipment funds
Story by JOHN GOODALL Tribune Chronicle on 7/16/2007.

WARREN — Although he thinks there are questions over using wireless enhancement money to buy emergency dispatching equipment, the county 911 Center director said he doesn’t expect the state to block a local attempt to do that.

Representatives of independent dispatching sites — Warren, Niles, Liberty, Girard, Hubbard, Newton Falls and Lordstown — have scheduled a meeting with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Aug. 15. They want the PUCO’s blessing to use some of the cell phone surcharge money, now held in escrow for Trumbull County, to update their dispatching equipment.

Under the law that established the 32-cent surcharge on monthly cell phone bills, the money can only be used to enhance 911 service on wireless calls.

‘‘Oh, definitely. Definitely,’’ Niles police Chief Bruce Simeone said when asked if the independents could demonstrate to the PUCO that the new equipment they are seeking would improve service to emergency cellular calls. Paying for the equipment has been a major hurdle in 911 upgrade talks between the county and the independents.

County 911 Center Director Michael Dolhancryk is not as certain as Simeone the proposed use of the money is clear cut.

‘‘It’s a gray area,’’ Dolhancryk said.

Dolhancryk said language in the law that created the surcharge appears to indicate that dispatching equipment should already be in place before enhancements are made for wireless calls. But he admits that the law is open to interpretation.

Regardless, the director said, he doesn’t expect the PUCO to stand in the way of what the independents want to do with some of the surcharge money. They are trying to replace aging dispatching equipment that has grown obsolete.

‘‘It’s a safety issue,’’ Simeone said.

The county has balked at buying equipment for the independents, as it has in the past. Officials said Trumbull County can’t afford to do that any longer.

Commissioner Paul Heltzel said that by the end of this year, enough surcharge money will have accumulated to pay for a $400,000 computerized map upgrade the 911 Center director wants, as well as the equipment for the independents. If the PUCO agrees that equipment is a legitimate use of surcharge funds, that route might be pursued, he said.

But Dolhancryk believes that continuing to assist the other dispatching sites to remain independent just postpones the real issue. That should be how to develop the best countywide 911 service possible, the director said.

He said he would likely have a draft of an alternative plan to the current 911 setup. It will give the 911 Review Board and the Planning Committee, which also will be attending the Aug. 15 meeting, some options, he noted.

Simeone said that one day a countywide 911 system might make the most sense. But at this time, the chief said, the county’s center could not accommodate all the communities now served by the independents.

jgoodall@tribune-chronicle.com

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911 center backs off on increases
Story By JOHN GOODALL Tribune Chronicle on 9/17/2007.

WARREN — The people who run the Trumbull County 911 dispatch center are inching away from proposed hefty increases that they charge communities they dispatch for, as an important meeting for the operation’s oversight boards approaches.

‘‘Seventy-five/twenty-five percent is still a goal,’’ 911 Center Director Michael Dolhancryk said of his suggested formula to fund the system. ‘‘But it’s not written in stone. It’s a talking point.’’

A joint meeting of the 911 Review Board and the 911 Planning Committee is set for noon Friday at the county Administration Building. Among the issues those boards are expected to take up is the funding of the county operation.

Dolhancryk has called for the formula to be altered so that the county pays 75 percent of the operation’s $2.5 million annual cost and the 23 member communities pay 25 percent. In contrast, this year the county is paying 83 percent and the members, 17 percent.

A Connecticut consulting firm that had studied the system in 2005, said in a report that what was then an 80/20 percent division was inadequate to support the system. That same year, the county had to lay off 911 staff and curtail services under a budget crisis.

Dolhancryk believes that asking the communities to accept 25 percent of the expense would go a long way towards insuring the 911 system’s financial health. That formula has worked well in other areas of the nation, he pointed out.

But the problem is that shifting from 17 percent to 25 percent share is a huge stretch for the member communities. It would inflate their overall contribution to $625,000 a year from the $421,190 they pay now — an increase of 48 percent.

A recent Tribune Chronicle story that outlined the specifics of the proposed price changes raised the ire of many communities facing big increases, and led to Dolhancryk to begin re-evaluating the proposal.

‘‘Our feeling when the figures came out was that they were shooting high and that they’d come back with some lower figures,’’ said Heidi Brown, Vienna Township trustee.

Meeting the funding challenge will become even more complex when the boards take on the issue of how the fees should be shared among the members.

If they are based on population, some communities would have drastic increases over what they are paying now, if the overall share is 25 percent. In some instances, it would severely impact the budgets of communities, officials have complained.

Under the proposal, 22 of the 23 Trumbull County townships and municipalities dispatched by the main 911 center, would see increases if the deal is adopted. Only Hubbard Township would see a decrease of about $5,000 a year.

When he saw those figures, county Commissioner Paul Heltzel said he also was concerned.

‘‘I looked at the increases for some of the communities,’’ he said. ‘‘I thought it was going to create a problem for some of the smaller communities.’’

Heltzel suggested putting a cap on some of the increases as a possible solution. But any caps would increase the county’s share and begin to erode efforts to improve the system’s financial health, he agreed.

The system could be funded on a per-call basis, as it is now. A problem with that route, officials have noted, is that it produces wild disparities in what member communities contribute.

Brookfield and Champion are townships of relatively the same size. But Brookfield currently pays $65,450, more than twice as much as Champion, which pays $29,968, for 911 service. Under the plan, both would pay about the same amount — Brookfield $67,215 and Champion $66,138.

Cortland Mayor Curt Moll has pointed out that even with the largest increase proposed for his city, it wasn’t unreasonable. He noted that Cortland couldn’t fund a dispatching operation for $46,273 — particularly when the cost of equipment is considered.

Under the proposal, Cortland’s fees would rise by more than 75 percent from $26,322 a year to $46,272.

Darlene St. George, Howland administrator, has said an increase for the members is inevitable. But she said it would have to be fair.

Under the plan, Howland would see an increase from of about 37 percent from $86,594 to $118,875.



jgoodall@tribune-chronicle.com

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Committee approves new Trumbull Co. 911 plan
Story from the Youngstown Vindicator on 11/25/2008.

WARREN — County officials have selected a new plan to handle emergency 911 calls, however, the plan has made certain members of law enforcement anything but happy.

Representatives of the Trumbull County 911 Planning Committee voted 3-2 on Tuesday to accept a plan put forth by Michael Dolhancryk, the county’s 911 director. Committee members Newton Falls Mayor Patrick Layshock and Niles Mayor Ralph Infante opposed it.

Committee members county Commissioner Daniel Polivka, Johnston Township Trustee Donald Barzak and Warren Mayor Michael O’Brien supported the new plan.

The county was under some pressure to approve a plan and submit it to the state by Dec. 31 in order to use $1.5 million for service upgrades being held in escrow.