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Grant County tables request to add two full‑time dispatchers pending call‑volume data
Summary
Grant County Central Dispatch requested two additional full‑time dispatcher positions to raise minimum shift staffing and reduce overtime; the council asked for call‑volume and overtime data over recent years and voted to table the request until that information is provided.
Grant County Central Dispatch requested funding to add two full‑time dispatchers, but the council voted to table the request and asked the department to provide staffing and call‑volume data for review.
Bill Hicks, who identified himself as the dispatch supervisor, told the council that the center has been fully staffed for about four months but that recent severe weather produced a taxing multi‑agency response that exposed stress on the floor. "Yesterday at 04:45 when the severe storm went through, there were 4 dispatchers working... it was very taxing on the dispatchers, both physically and mentally," Hicks said, describing simultaneous incidents that stretched staff.
Council members probed whether the center is truly fully staffed on a sustained basis, how much overtime and part‑time labor has been used in recent years, and whether adding permanent positions would meaningfully reduce overtime costs. One council member suggested the request would be more appropriate at budget time; others asked for two years of call logs and monthly staffing ratios so they could evaluate trends.
The council made a motion to table the request and asked Hicks to return with the requested data. No appropriation was approved.
