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Council adds David City, Crete and Butler County 911 to cooperative dispatch system
Summary
The council approved an addendum to the city's interlocal cooperative for the Zerker records/dispatch system to add three new partner agencies; staff said the arrangement improves officer-to-officer communication and that annual service fees to the city would not increase because new participants pay their own costs.
The Seward City Council approved an addendum to its cooperative public safety software and hardware agreement to add David City, Crete and the Butler County 911 center to the existing Zerker computer‑aided dispatch and records management interlocal group.
Chief Peters presented the item and said the addendum expands the group without increasing Seward’s annual service fee because new participants make arrangements directly with the vendor. “The ability for additional agencies to be part of this group…allows us more direct communication, officers to officers, officers to deputies and vice versa,” Chief Peters said, describing instant alerts and better information sharing on officers’ in‑vehicle laptops.
Why it matters: The interlocal arrangement keeps the primary server in Seward with a backup in York County; officials said the cooperative model reduced initial costs by sharing infrastructure and that monthly or annual service fees for Seward remain “ballpark” less than $4,000 as the group grows.
Staff said the working group meets monthly to coordinate issues with the vendor and other partners and that the system vendor participates in the meetings. Chief Peters also said the group expects to evaluate cloud hosting as the system grows, though no cloud migration estimate was presented.
Council action: The council moved and seconded approval of the addendum and approved it by voice vote recorded as 7-0.
Ending: Staff will continue to coordinate the interlocal group, maintain the server and backup arrangement, and return to the council with any future contract or hosting changes that have budgetary implications.
