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County committees consider partial funding plan for CAD upgrade; resolution to come
Summary
Berrien County administration and commissioners discussed a plan to support local police and fire departments' computer-aided dispatch (CAD) upgrades, including a possible county contribution of 50% of costs up to $250,000 per department and pursuit of state offset funds; a formal resolution was not yet before the full board.
The administration committee reported continuing work on a countywide computer-aided dispatch (CAD) upgrade for police and fire departments and said staff would return to the full board with a resolution when details are finalized.
Commissioner Dave Vollrath and administration members met with police chiefs and fire chiefs and discussed a funding model that would offer up to 50% of a local department's CAD cost, capped at $250,000 per department. Committee members said the program remains subject to defined commitments from participating local units, including formal opt-in agreements and acknowledgment of ongoing costs.
County staff said they plan to follow the model used for a prior oblique imaging project by securing formal agreements from local units that choose to participate and that such agreements would spell out payment responsibilities and ongoing costs. Commissioner Curran said the chiefs expected immediate action; administration described the effort as high priority but said additional guardrails and a resolution for the full board are forthcoming.
Administration also said it had contacted state representatives and senators to seek offsetting dollars from state public-safety funds; staff cited the state public-safety trust fund and related community infrastructure proposals as possible sources but did not promise state support.
No final appropriation or binding interlocal agreements were approved at the meeting; the transcript records committee-level direction to prepare a resolution and supporting documents for a future board vote.
