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Board forms committee with Erie County and fire department to study dispatch consolidation
Summary
The town authorized two board members to join Erie County and local fire representatives to evaluate whether consolidating dispatch services would be safer and less expensive; a voice vote approved the motion and staff will circulate meeting updates.
The Grand Island Town Board voted to authorize a committee—made up of Erie County representatives, two town board members and fire-department representatives—to study whether consolidating dispatch services would improve safety and reduce costs.
Dan, a town board member who proposed the idea, said he wanted a committee to “determine whether dispatch would be better serve, better safer, and less expensive for our residents.” He asked for two town board members and a couple of fire-department representatives to participate. “The committee will be formed by Erie County and the representatives, hopefully, 2 town board members and couple members from the fire department,” Dan said.
Dan made a motion asking the town board to authorize himself and Councilman Garcia to meet with Erie County and the fire company to assess the potential path for dispatch consolidation. The motion was seconded. The board approved the motion by voice vote; the mover said he would provide ongoing updates and “start a live update type email” summarizing meetings for the board.
Members expressed mixed views about workload and the risk of being an early adopter, with one member cautioning that the town could become a “guinea pig” if county efforts were not well developed. Several members said they would participate in or support a fact-finding committee and asked to receive interim updates so the full board would not learn results only at the end of the process.
No binding commitment to consolidate was made; the committee’s purpose is investigatory. The motion passed by voice vote at the meeting and staff will circulate meeting notices and written thumbnails of progress to the board.
