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Westmont board postpones vote on Norcom alarm‑monitoring agreement amid legal review and customer concerns
Summary
Trustees voted to postpone consideration of an exclusive‑license alarm monitoring agreement with Norcom Public Safety Communications so Norcom counsel and village attorneys can resolve indemnification language; trustees and at least one board member raised concerns about Norcom's market position and customer billing practices.
The Village of Westmont postponed consideration of an exclusive‑license agreement with Norcom Public Safety Communications, Inc. after village legal counsel said Norcom's lawyers had not provided final comments on indemnification language. The board voted to postpone the item for two weeks.
Attorney Don Zemenak told the board that Norcom's counsel had been asked to respond to a single section involving indemnification and that the village expected to have the revisions wrapped up within two weeks. "They thought they'd have responsive comments to us by today on just 1 section involving indemnification. They never got back to us in time," Zemenak said.
Trustees then discussed whether Norcom is effectively the only available alarm‑monitoring option in the region because of the capital and hub equipment required to connect to the village's systems. Zemenak said the village does not have room at the police department hub to host another vendor's monitoring equipment without a significant capital investment.
A trustee, speaking from personal experience as a Norcom customer, described repeated billing and collections issues after cancelling service and urged staff to keep watch on the company if an agreement proceeds. The trustee said the company had grown from a very small operation into a larger business since first contracting with the village and expressed concern about potential overcharging.
Trustee Nero moved to postpone; Trustee Little seconded. The board approved the motion by roll call. Zemenak said the item will be brought back as soon as counsel completes the review.
