Minutes Archive

Emergency Telephone District Board Meeting Minutes

December 18, 2007

Present:	Chairman Allen L. Byam, Vice-Chairman Michael Olson, Greg Purcell, Ken Tsuchiyama, Bill Hankinson, Eric Miller, Jase Bolger

Also Present:	Jill Fish, Tom Hardy, Frank Post

Call To Order/Recognition of a Quorum:
The Meeting was called to order by Chairman Allen Byam at 8:30 a.m., noting a quorum was in attendance and thanked the members for their attendance.

Agenda Review/Member Additions:
A request was made to add E 9-1-1 Funding and CodeRED to the Agenda. All members were in agreement with these additions.

Approval of Minutes:
The minutes of the November 20, 2007 Meeting were approved on a Motion by Mr. Miller and supported by Mr. Olson. Voice Vote - Carried. The minutes were approved as written.

Financial Report:
Mr. Purcell reported the financials reflect payments mailed to the PSAPs through the month of November and should there be any discrepancies noted, please let him know.

E 9-1-1 Legislative Update
Senate Bills 410 and 411 finally passed the House on Wednesday, December 12th after “stalling” there for seven months and are on their way to the Governor’s Office for signature. The bills, which create a new 911 funding formula came out of the house with the substitute amendments recommended by MAC, the only material exception was a sunset date of February 28, 2009 for the bills. MAC and its allies lined up 2/3 of the House against the shorter sunset amendment , but it was tacked on through a procedural maneuver known as a “quick gavel” where no vote is actually taken and leadership effectively decides if the amendment will be adopted.

Chairman Byam commented that the passage of this legislation sets things in the direction we want and he terms this as a short term victory for the county. The County Board will still have control over the dollars and things are much better than what they could have been..

The House amended the bills to sunset in February 2009, but for now counties can continue service. Mr. Purcell commented the sunset date leave a lot of uncertainty for the future. The Senate’s original bills proposed the legislation last until 2011.. Mr. Purcell indicated the sunset is clearly a compromise.

Further, Mr. Purcell advised that discussion needs to happen in terms of direction and this must be accomplished in a timely manner. If the county wishes to levy a surcharge we will need to have background information from the PSAPs ready to present to the Board of Commissioners at their February 7, 2008 Meeting in order to meet the PSC Deadline of February 15th. Cities will have to request additional revenues and we will have to have a plan specific. Further, we will need to have documentation and financials to support the need for a higher surcharge for the application, and more importantly for the Board of Commissioners and the general public. Mr. Purcell recommends that the City Managers from Albion, Marshall and Battle Creek plan to attend the next E 9-1-1 Meeting to discuss options

At this time, members should be prepared to engage in dialogue concerning their respective agencies.

The schedule proposed Meeting Dates for 2008 was briefly discussed and it was decided that the January Meeting for 2008 would be moved to January 22, 2008 to better accommodate members schedules. The remainder of the calendar will remain as presented.

Marshall/Albion Consolidation Update:
Mr. Olson indicated that the Marshall and Albion City Councils will be having another joint meeting sometime during the first couple of weeks in January to continue discussion as to what to do. It was noted that they have ‘raised a trial balloon’ with regard to the possibility of a millage. Discussion on this matter is still on the table. The council members are still interested in a Consolidated Dispatch Center.

Further, Mr. Miller has indicated that the Foundations in Battle Creek, Albion, Marshall and Homer have agreed to look at their proposal. They anticipate they are looking at $320.000 to start up the Consolidated Dispatch and they are hopeful looking at getting at least one half of that amount from the various foundations. More to come on this later.

Battle Creek Dispatch - New Center Update:
Mr. Tsuchiyama reported that their architect has identified some significant issues that will be adding considerable dollars to the project. Further, if the estimates are too high, they may have to go to “Plan B”which was to stay where they are. Commissioner Bolger inquired if it was about the money or location, adding that there is still space available here in the County Building.

Mr. Tsuchiyama advised he wants to wait and see the revised estimate from their architect, There were projections made as to what the costs would be to develop the Dispatch Center in the County Building when Mr. Muladore was on staff. It was pointed out that those figures were old and may have to be reworked. Mr. Purcell indicated he is working with limited staff and does not want to put a lot of time and effort into reworking the proposal unless the City of Battle Creek is serious about considering the County Building site.

Radio Frequency Update
The matter regarding the reallocation of channels still remains unresolved at this time. Licensing details are being reviewed and the sub-committee will be taking a look at the possible reallocation of channels not in use. Mr., Post commented there are a number tactical issues that need to be addressed such as licenses, the cost of reprogramming radios, etc.

Mr. Miller advised the Committee police cannot communicate with the fire service and vice versa. The patch does not work very well and he is concerned as to the safety of his fire personnel given the fact that they continue to be unable to communicate with Law Enforcement, dispatchers, etc. He noted Law Enforcement is all on the 800 system. In conversation with one of his colleagues from Washtenaw County, he has learned that Washtenaw got a millage for Fire to switch over to the 800 System. Their patch was not working either.

It was noted that the Fire Service cannot afford the 800 system and the only way they will ever be able to go to that system is if they get it for free, or have some method of paying for it i.e., a millage.

Chairman Byam commented that the people in Calhoun County had actively and soundly defeated the millage proposal for Consolidated Dispatch, If that millage had passed it would have meant big time savings for all concerned. Further, Chairman Byam indicated he was not willing to take a major lead in any conversations regarding a millage. The Fire service actively worked against the millage and the County Board “took the heat” for placing the millage question on the ballot and in his view it is inappropriate at this time given everything that has gone forth to even consider any such proposal.

Tom Hardy commented the VHF System doesn’t work as well as it did previously and the patches aren’t worth a “darn”.

Frank Post commented that it was disconcerting that the millage got tanked and in his opinion, it was caused as a result of a turf war.

Jill Fish stated the frequencies are too congested.

Mr. Purcell commented what is needed is a stable funding source, and a County-Wide Dispatch makes sense.

The question persists, where do we go from here?

CodeRED Discussion:
Chairman Byam advised the Committee that Larry Utterback is attending the Regional Planning Board Meeting, and has been asked to request some definitive answers - Will funding for CodeRED continue after the initial year from the Regional Homeland Security Grant (Regional V). Will have a report for the next meeting.

Public Comment:
None.

Member Comments:
None

Next Meeting:
The next meeting of the Emergency Telephone District Board will be held on Tuesday, January 22, 2008.

There being no further to discuss at this time, the meeting was adjourned to the call of the Chair, the time being 9:50 a.m.

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