By Kristi Pihl, Tri-City Herald, Yakima Herald-Republic (Washington)

PROSSER — Prosser will no longer be the only Benton County city to run its own dispatch center.

The Prosser City Council voted Tuesday to go from a city-run dispatch to a regionalized dispatch center in a 4-3 vote.

The city will negotiate a contract with SECOMM, or Southeast Communications Center, which provides dispatch services for other Benton County agencies. The switch will be made Jan. 1, 2013.

Prosser Mayor Paul Warden and city staff recommended the switch to SECOMM, which means cutting five dispatch positions. If not for those people, Warden said, the decision would be “cut and dry.”

The city has estimated contracting with SECOMM would save the city more than $220,000 a year, which is close to the $200,000 shortfall staff predicts in the city’s 2013 budget.

The 786-1500 Prosser phone number will continue to be answered by a human 24/7, Warden said. But it will be answered by SECOMM instead of a dispatcher in Prosser.

Prosser police Chief Pat McCullough said the city’s dispatch service already is at bare minimum staffing. Losing one of the five dispatchers would mean contracting with SECOMM to fill in the gap.

Councilman Ernie Troemel said the council needed to consider the overall community good. Regionalizing dispatch is necessary so that Prosser can get the latest technology, such as having the ability to have the phone number and address of a caller pop up on the system.

“The revenue has not kept up with the expenses,” he said. “So somewhere you have to say, ‘Wow, stop, we’ve got to do something.’ ”

Troemel’s comments were greeted with “No’s” from some of the 25 citizens who attended the meeting. No public comment was taken, but some held signs that said, “Vote to keep Prosser’s dispatchers.”

Councilman Steve Becken, who voted against the contract along with Councilmen Randy Taylor and Scott Hamilton, thanked citizens for their comments to him about the subject.

“To those of you who contacted me, I heard you,” Becken said.

Prosser’s dispatchers are like having another officer in the field because they know the community and are located in Prosser, Taylor said.

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