Regional panel seeks go ahead to look at combining emergency services
Barre, Montpelier, Berlin and Barre Town asked for backing
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By David Delcore TIMES ARGUS STAFF - Published: March 20, 2010
BERLIN - A regional committee studying the idea of consolidating area public safety services is seeking the green light to take further steps toward that goal.
The committee has spent the past several months studying whether a single public safety authority could provide police, fire and ambulance services to Barre, Barre Town, Montpelier and Berlin. Intuitively, the committee believes that regionalizing emergency services could yield cost savings and a superior service for all, but before doing the heavy lifting needed to prove that premise, members want to make sure that the selectboards and city councils responsible for appointing them last summer are still seriously interested in the idea.
Montpelier City Councilor Tom Golonka - one of two Capital City representatives on the committee - hammered that point home earlier this week.
"We're at a point where we need to know: 'Do you want us to continue or not?'" Golonka asked during Thursday night's meeting of representatives of all four municipalities.
The well-attended joint session, which was held at the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce office building in Berlin, was the first such meeting since officials from all four communities gathered at a Barre restaurant last April. That meeting sparked the discussions, which - with some prodding from the chamber of commerce - eventually led to the committee's formation.
Over the last several months the 11-member committee - two representatives from each community, and the executive officers of three regional entities, including the chamber of commerce - has met at least eight times to discuss the possible creation of a single, independent public safety authority. That authority would be responsible for all emergency services - from dispatching and police to fire and ambulance - within a four-town service area that covers 82 square miles and is home to roughly 28,000 residents, 1,500 employers and an estimated workforce of over 20,000 people.
Despite pronounced geographic and demographic differences among the four neighboring municipalities, committee members have generally endorsed a regional approach to providing "... an affordable, integrated and efficient system of public safety services" and have, at least tentatively, decided how the new authority would be governed.
Following what was described as a "vigorous" but not terribly "contentious" debate, committee members said they are proposing a governance structure they believe would preserve some semblance of local control.
The proposal outlined Thursday calls for the creation of an autonomous seven-member policy-making board that would oversee operations of the nw public safety authority. Officials from each participating community would, at least initially, appoint one member to the board and the remaining three members would be elected at large by voters in all four communities. The latter proposal was suggested as a way to ensure that larger communities - Barre, Montpelier and Barre Town - will almost certainly have greater say involving operational and budgetary decisions.
George Malek, executive vice president of the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce, urged representatives of all four communities to consider the proposed governance structure in coming days and react to it if they believe it could be problematic.
"If governance is going to blow up, now would be the time to blow it up before we start looking at operations," he said.
But before investing additional time, energy and resources in what he believes is a worthwhile project, Golonka said the committee needs to know the legislative bodies in all four communities are on board with the regional idea. Golonka said the committee is asking city councils in Barre and Montpelier and selectboards in Barre Town and Berlin to swiftly adopt a resolution reauthorizing the committee and instructing it to meet regularly to evaluate the costs of existing services, the relative ease of transitioning to a regionalized model, and the cost associated with creating such a service.
Under the best of circumstances, Golonka said the committee envisioned a three-year process leading up to the potential transition to a regional service.
"The hard work will come over the next two years," he predicted.
Malek agreed.
"You need to be serious about going forward," he said. "There's going to be a lot of work and a lot of ugliness potentially before we have anything that makes any sense."
Barre City Councilor Steven Mackenzie said he is interested in learning more, but far from ready to commit to participating in a regional service.
"There are still far more questions than there are answers at this point," he said.
Golonka said the committee understands that and was simply requesting authority to answer questions ranging from what the new service would look like, how much it will cost, and how it will be paid for.
"It's a commitment to get further information," he said of the proposed resolution.
Assuming the communities all agree to proceed, Lauzon urged the committee to swiftly evaluate the financial aspects of a consolidated service.
"Where the wheels are going to come off - if they come off - is: 'How are we going to pay for it?'" he said. "The more quickly you can move to that point (the better)."
Among the options for financing a public safety authority range from a straight per-capita assessment to calculating the fee based on respective Grand lists or emergency call volumes. Some hybrid of those or other options is also possible.
david.delcore@timesargus.com
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