Indiana County Hears New Haven on 9-1-1 Center
Dan Stockman, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
The question of whether New Haven will continue to keep its own, separate 9-1-1 call center was not officially resolved Thursday, but it appears that, for now at least, officials are leaning in that direction.
New Haven Mayor Terry McDonald and Police Chief Steve Poiry asked the Allen County Council to appropriate $105,622 to upgrade the New Haven dispatch’s computer system to the new standard used by the joint Fort Wayne-Allen County 9-1-1 call center.
Without that upgrade, New Haven residents who dial 9-1-1 will be routed directly to the merged call center in downtown Fort Wayne starting Jan. 15.
The Consolidated Communications Partnership on Tuesday approved the request, but noted that final approval must come from the County Council. Some County Council members questioned whether New Haven should have its own dispatch, while others said a backup system is well worth the money.
“The CCP has the capacity to handle your calls with no increased cost, so is (a separate dispatch) really the best use of tax dollars?” asked Council President Darren Vogt, R-3rd.
McDonald argued it is the best use, because the New Haven dispatch is an in-county backup available 24-7, whereas no one knows how long it might take to activate the backup system at the Public Safety Academy.
“I don’t see how anyone thinks you can bring up a system instantly when it’s been mothballed, to say nothing of travel times,” McDonald said. “9-1-1 calls … will go unanswered if our dispatch center is not there.”
McDonald noted that during the ice storm in 2008, he personally answered nearly 300 calls in the New Haven dispatch, all from outside New Haven. They had rolled over there because the consolidated system was overwhelmed. During the June 2012 windstorm, he said, he stopped counting the hundreds of calls New Haven handled – all of them rolled over from Fort Wayne.
“If the New Haven dispatch does not exist, that waterfall ends up in DeKalb County,” McDonald said.
Some council members backed the idea.
“Minutes are lives,” said Bob Armstrong, R-at large. “To me this is a public safety issue. Dollars and cents are important, but dollars and cents aren’t lives.”
New Haven gets about $48,000 a year from 9-1-1 fees toward its operation, but McDonald said that amount falls far short of what is needed, leading to a discussion over how 9-1-1 fees should be divvied up and whether New Haven’s center is efficient. Based on call volume, the CCP costs $10 a call; New Haven’s center costs $30 per call.
In any case, members said, they weren’t ready to make a decision the first day they were handed the issue.
“I feel like a juror, and this is one piece of the evidence,” said Larry Brown, R-4th. “And I want to hear all the evidence.”
They asked whether New Haven could pay for the upgrade itself to ensure it is operational by Jan. 15 and seemed open to reimbursing the expense at their meeting in December.
McDonald said the city could cover the cost but saidthat if it does so, its request for the money still stands.
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