Mayor works with County to move forward with 911 consolidation
Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry is working with the Allen County Commissioners to create a consolidated City-County 911 call center. Henry encourages the County Commissioners to support the proposed interlocal agreement, which will be up for a formal vote during the Commission's regular meeting Friday.
The three-year interlocal agreement establishes a joint partnership with a cost-sharing structure representative of the volume of calls from the respective areas. It sets up an operations board with three members appointed by the Mayor and three by the County Commissioners. A seventh member is jointly selected by the other six.
Mayor Henry looks forward to working with the County Commissioners, County Council and City Council as the City of Fort Wayne and Allen County move forward with creating a consolidated 911 call center.
“The proposed interlocal agreement puts together a governance structure for a combined Consolidated Communications Partnership that works for city and county residents and their respective public safety agencies,” Mayor Henry said. “I can't begin to tell you how many people have asked me why we have two separate centers separated by a glass wall. This agreement will bring down that wall and improve public safety for the citizens and taxpayers of the City of Fort Wayne and the County of Allen.”
Under the proposal, the operations board will be responsible for selecting the agency's executive director. The City's controller will handle the accounting for the partnership. The executive director will compile an annual benchmarking report that will cover at minimum: number of calls received, number of runs dispatched, speed of response and budgetary efficiencies. A cost-savings estimate has not been calculated for this proposal.
The plan calls for all current City and County dispatch center employees to become partnership employees. The operations board will select a benefit package equivalent to the City or County's. Existing employees will not suffer any reduction in pay or benefits.
“The state is going to require consolidation of E-911 centers by 2014. This proposal lets the City and the County do it on our own terms,” Mayor Henry said. “We have seen success when the City and the County work together ' such as the joint land use departments ' and I see no reason why a single emergency dispatch center won't see similar benefits for everyone involved.”
Fort Wayne Police Chief Rusty York and Fort Wayne Fire Chief Pete Kelly also support this proposal.
The agreement requires approval from the Mayor, City Council, Allen County Commission and County Council. A timeline for implementation will be established after approval.