County emergency communications board moves forward without City of Spokane; local chiefs brief council on impacts

Fire and emergency services officials told the Medical Lake City Council on Jan. 21 that the Spokane Regional Emergency Communications (SREC) board has decided to move forward without the City of Spokane and will instead complete a regional dispatch center and related upgrades.

Chief Orbach, representing Fire District 3, told council that the Spokane Regional Center "was created in 2018 with the intent to bring all fire and law enforcement agencies in the county under 1 roof." He said the county board has reached a decision point after several years of discussions and extensions. "On January 10th we received another request to extend the deadlines for another year…and the board received that request and the RFP for that facility is going out this month," Orbach said.

Orbach explained that the board purchased a dispatch facility in Marabu Park that will require retrofit work and that a computer-aided dispatch build-out and 911 phone system upgrades are already under way. He warned the council that recent state legislation introduced as House Bill 1258 would redistribute 911 tax dollars in the county on the basis of call volume. "It would effectively have county residents subsidizing emergency services within the city," Orbach said, summarizing the bill’s intent as discussed by the board.

Orbach described the board’s action as a decision to proceed with the regional center’s projects rather than continue waiting for a resolution from the City of Spokane. "The board made the difficult decision to move on without them and to support them in becoming their own dispatch center," he said, adding that the decision does not preclude future cooperation.

Council members present thanked the district for the briefing; one council member said the regional improvements have already yielded measurable results, including faster call processing times. Orbach said the regional center’s work has reduced 911 call processing times by roughly 25 to 28 seconds per month and that those improvements have contributed to better ratings from the Washington State Survey and Ratings Bureau.

The briefing noted that the county’s plans and SREC projects remain in motion, that the RFP for the Marabu Park retrofit is imminent, and that the split with the City of Spokane is the outcome of a lengthy governance and finance discussion at the regional board level. No formal action by the Medical Lake City Council was requested or taken on the dispatch matter during the meeting.

Ending: Council members said they appreciated the update and the regional perspective. Staff advised council that any future county or state actions tied to dispatch funding or governance would be brought back to council if they require local action or have direct financial impact on the city.