Emergency management staff told the Columbia County commissioners that the county’s shared computer‑aided dispatch (CAD) arrangement — which currently rents CAD services from the City of Walla Walla — is being upgraded by Walla Walla and that the county’s share of initial and ongoing fees is likely to rise substantially.

Staff said vendors will not provide firm quotes without demonstrations and detailed consultations, and that the county is arranging demos and further discussions. Commissioners and emergency management staff discussed options: stay on Walla Walla’s upgraded system (which preserves integrated information sharing across jurisdictions) or pursue a separate CAD hosted elsewhere, which could reduce interoperability with Walla Walla but might lower costs. Staff reported preliminary figures for county costs in a migration year that would raise Columbia County’s first‑year CAD costs to roughly $101,000 (county departments combined) and noted additional costs for Fire District 3 (roughly $33,500 in the first year under the proposed allocation). Staff also said Walla Walla used call volumes to allocate costs and that some entities with very low usage (for example, the VA) face the same initial fees under the current split.

Separately, dispatch management raised a safety concern after a dispatcher fainted while on duty; another dispatcher who was training was present and rendered aid. The incident prompted discussion about the desirability of having two dispatchers on duty at all times for safety and redundancy. Staff explained current staffing patterns and said that adding a single additional dispatcher to create consistent two‑person coverage would require hiring one more full‑time dispatcher and changing schedules; meeting participants noted the county currently has staffing and budget constraints.

Why it matters: the CAD upgrade decision affects recurring county operating costs, interoperability with nearby jurisdictions (including Walla Walla), and operational capacity for dispatch. The dispatcher medical incident highlighted an immediate safety and staffing gap in 24/7 dispatch coverage.

Next steps discussed at the meeting included scheduling vendor demonstrations to get hard quotes, meeting with Walla Walla staff to review cost allocations and initial fees, and evaluating options to achieve consistent two‑person dispatch coverage (which likely requires hiring an additional dispatcher). No formal board action was taken at the meeting on CAD procurement or immediate staffing changes; staff were directed to gather more information.