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Council hears initial study ideas on consolidating emergency services; city may ask county to resume EMS dispatch funding
Summary
City chiefs outlined options for shared services or consolidation with Chubbuck and Bannock County, focusing on automatic aid, shared dispatch and funding; the city currently subsidizes county EMS dispatch functions (discussion participants cited roughly $400,000/year) and council members asked for elected‑level talks and a feasibility study (Idaho State University or consultant) to quantify costs, savings and operational impacts.
Chiefs Roger Shai (Pocatello Police) and Shane Gro (interim Pocatello Fire) led an initial council discussion about possible consolidation or closer collaboration for emergency services across Pocatello, Chubbuck and Bannock County.
Key operational items: the county currently supports three separate public safety dispatch centers (Pocatello, Chubbuck and the county), and Pocatello's dispatch center performs EMS dispatch countywide. Chief Shai said the ambulance contract that previously covered some costs expired in 2017 and described an ongoing subsidy from the city for county EMS dispatch services; during discussion council members and chiefs referenced an approximate annual city subsidy figure of about $400,000 for EMS dispatch functions.
Study options offered: Chief Shai suggested academic analysis (Idaho State University masters/PhD project) or a consultant study to compare scenarios: (1) fully combine the two cities' public safety services, (2) combine first‑responder services (fire, EMS) while maintaining separate city governments, or (3) keep city structures but combine shared services (dispatch, training, admin). He emphasized that dispatch consolidation carries technical and redundancy questions (backup/secondary dispatch location, staffing and physical space).
Why it matters: consolidation or shared services could produce operational efficiencies and more consistent mutual aid but would require negotiating funding, governance, union and legal issues. Council members proposed a first step of elected‑official discussions with Chubbuck and the county and asked staff to identify a single, achievable study objective (for example, whether to combine Pocatello and Chubbuck dispatch centers) before commissioning a formal analysis.
Next steps: mayoral and council leadership indicated they would begin interjurisdictional discussions; staff and chiefs proposed scoping a feasibility study (ISU or qualified consultant) focused on one defined question and returning results to council.
