Town to retain dispatch contract with Barre City
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By SUSAN ALLEN TIMES ARGUS STAFF - Published: December 24, 2009
The Barre Town Selectboard has approved a two-year contract with Barre City for emergency dispatch services, with a six-month cancellation option.
The first year of the contract will cost the town $205,000 (the town also hires one dispatcher, bringing the total cost of that service to $250,000). The bill would climb to just over $215,000 the second year. The city had set a Jan. 1 deadline for the town to agree to the contract for fire, ambulance and police dispatch services.
"We still have some quality issues to resolve," said Selectboard Chairman Jeffrey Blow on Wednesday. He said the selectboard planned to visit the dispatch center on Tuesday, take a tour and meet the staff, which he hopes will "start to create a foundation of knowledge and a much more open line of communication."
"We all get so insulated in our lives," Blow said. "It's easy to sit on your side of the table and talk about the other side. We'll get the two sides together face to face. I'm hoping the city will view this as a great opportunity to fix some of the issues the town has talked about."
The town had delayed renewing the contract, citing concerns about "customer service." The selectboard considered setting up the town's own emergency dispatch service in its police department, and has also heard from the Lamoille County Sheriff's Department about contracting for those services.
"We could do our own," Blow said. "It wouldn't be simple or quick, but it can be done."
Blow said the board will continue to talk to the sheriff's office about its offer.
"We're still going to investigate that," he said. "It really comes down to the fact that some members of the selectboard are not convinced the city will take enough corrective measures to keep us satisfied. If we choose to do something different (in the future), we will have a better handle on what our choices are."
Blow said the city and town have a history of antagonism.
"I analyzed it the other day like this: The city and the town are like brothers and sisters. We fight over the best toys in the closet. But when one of us needs the other, we're there to help. That's exactly how it is," he said.
He said the police officers on the street everyday work very well together. The problem, Blow said, exists with the dispatch services.
He cited a recent incident in the McDonald's parking lot in which a Barre Town officer responded and was backed up by a city officer.
"That's the kind of working relationship the police officers have," Blow said. But with dispatchers, he added, it's "mostly a lack of communication. It just seems to be not as good as it could be."
Asked if he was comfortable with the decision to continue the contract with the city, Blow replied, "I'm comfortable with it to this degree … It lends the city some satisfaction that they know what their revenue is going to be for two years. It allows the town a six-month notice to get out if we're not happy.
"I'm more optimist that the next six months is a great chance for Barre City dispatch to demonstrate their ability to demonstrate what some people perceive as shortcomings, that they're not shortcomings."
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