Commissioners urge Pioneer and townships to finalize 9-1-1 dispatch plan; county to keep dual paging until March 1

Williams County commissioners spent more than an hour on a dispute over who should be dispatched for emergency calls along boundary areas involving the village of Pioneer, Bridgewater Township and neighboring townships, and on how to program the county's Motorola CAD (computer-aided dispatch) system.

The commissioners instructed county dispatch to continue “dual paging” — sending both the old and proposed new responsible agencies — through March 1 as a temporary measure, and they directed county staff to ask the village of Pioneer and nearby townships to reach a final decision and coordinate with county dispatch before the county makes permanent programming changes.

The discussion began after the board received a letter from the village of Pioneer asking the county to implement a new Bridgewater contract and updated response zones. Commissioners said Pioneer has been negotiating with neighboring townships, but those townships have not reached agreement and some have told the county they would not return to a previous commitment. County staff said the county cannot instantly reprogram Motorola's CAD without contacting Motorola and incurring a cost to update response plans.

Heather (communications staff), who works in the county's 9-1-1 communications office, described interim fixes to the county's online map and the CAD system. Heather said the county's map manager relabeled an online map to show both old and new zones so dispatchers could follow the temporary plan, and that the county intentionally avoided paying Motorola to change CAD configurations that would then need another change in March: “We relabeled it because we still can't change our CAD map and our CAD response plans because we have to pay Motorola. We're not gonna pay Motorola to change it and then change it again in March 1.”

Commissioners and staff reviewed a recent call in which the wrong agency paged first because of a mapping/display issue; commissioners said that error delayed a Pioneer response and highlighted the operational risk to residents while the parties remain in flux. One commissioner told colleagues that dispatch staff report to the county and urged the village and townships to stop negotiating with each other and instead decide a consistent plan for dispatching before the county makes permanent changes.

County staff said they have requested a quote from Motorola for programming changes and that any cost could be shared among parties, but they emphasized the county should not make permanent programming changes until Pioneer and the townships finalize the agreement. Commissioners said they will ask Bridgewater Township and Pioneer representatives, including Mayor Ed Kidston, to clarify their positions; they also said they would review and possibly send a letter urging Pioneer to make a decision.

Next steps the board set: continue dual paging through March 1, have staff obtain Motorola cost estimates for reprogramming, and ask the parties to meet with county dispatch staff so the county can implement a single permanent response plan after the local jurisdictions agree. Commissioners also asked staff to circulate the draft letter to Pioneer and to hold the matter as old business until resolved.

Ending: The board said the county will not make permanent CAD changes until the affected jurisdictions finalize their agreements and until Motorola can implement the change; staff will return with cost estimates and a draft letter for the county to send to the village of Pioneer and township officials.