Allendale council highlights dispatch consolidation with Ramsey, says launch set for March 16
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Summary
A staff presenter told the Allendale mayor and council that a shared-service dispatch contract with Ramsey will launch March 16, citing long-running feasibility work, estimated equipment upgrade costs of $500,000–$700,000, and plans to retain dispatch staff under Ramsey employment.
A staff member told the Allendale mayor and council on March 12 that the borough’s planned consolidation of emergency dispatch with the Ramsey dispatch center will begin next Monday, March 16.
The presenter said feasibility work on shared dispatch dates back to 2011 and resumed with equipment-upgrade estimates in 2024. “The overall costs would have been somewhere in a ballpark of $500 to $700,000,” the staff member said, and added that the borough’s yearly cost of running a local communications desk, including salaries and benefits, had been about $350,000.
The presenter said the committee sought to retain existing employees and leverage new technology. “I’m confident that the choice we made will have the least impact to the community and department,” the staff member said, adding that borough dispatchers will be offered full-time positions with Ramsey, including increases in salary and supervisory roles. He also said the police station will remain open to the public 24 hours a day and that vendor integration by Jim Coban and Coded Computer Solutions connected Allendale to Ramsey for seamless operations.
The shared-service agreement was listed on the meeting’s consent agenda. At the meeting the mayor highlighted execution of a shared-service agreement between the borough and Ramsey; the presenter characterized the move as a long-term cost- and service-alignment decision and said the operational transition will launch March 16.
Why this matters: Consolidating dispatch operations changes who answers 911 and nonemergency calls and how response coordination is handled across police, fire and public works. The borough described the consolidation as a way to modernize equipment, maintain situational awareness across agencies and realize long-term savings while keeping a staffed, public-facing police station.
What’s next: The presenter said implementation tasks and vendor work have been completed and launch is scheduled for March 16. The council did not debate the substance of the contract during that presentation; formal approval of the consent-agenda items is recorded with the meeting minutes and the borough will post supporting documents on its website.
(Attribution: quotations and summary are taken from remarks by the staff member presenting the dispatch consolidation.)
