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Show Critics blast 9 1 1 consolidation study ' By MARK EEpiNGJON S la fT Writer I..,,. I,. n i . ' . -. FARMINGTON A Council of Government committee's report which found consolidating the four dispatch centers in Davis County would not significantly reduce costs has come under fire from several council and committee members who say the findings are flawed. q Critics both inside and outside a Jspatch service study committee lave blasted the report's conclusions, conclu-sions, which they contend are flaw ed because the cost comparisons between be-tween running the existing dispatch centers and switching to a single consolidated system were based on estimated figures provided by professionals pro-fessionals on the committee who have a vested interest in protecting the status quo. "Those chiefs were covering their butts," Clinton Mayor Steven Weller told fellow council members Wednesday after committee members had left. ' 4They were just looking out for their department.' Davis County currently has dispatch centers in Bountiful, Layton, Clearfield and another in Farmington run by the Davis County Coun-ty Sheriff's Office. The 11 -member committee was comprised of the Bountiful and Layton police chiefs, one representative each from the Sheriff's office and Clearfield dispatch center, and six lay persons. The committee, organized last September , after lengthy debate, concluded operating one consolidated con-solidated center would be more expensive ex-pensive than the current system, and only slightly cheaper than funding the existing centers at what the committee professionals say would "Those chiefs were covering their butts. They were just looking out for their department." Clinton Mayor Steven Weller be an optimum level. Estimated operational costs for the four centers is about $1.4 million. Optimum funding would raise that amount to just over $1.6 million. The committee estimated first year costs for changing to a consolidated system would be $1.68 million and subsequent annual an-nual expenditures would reach $1.52 million. Based on those figures, the committee com-mittee found the savings of consolidating con-solidating would be negligible when weighed against a possible lack of responsiveness of one system to countywide needs, impact on existing centers and increased bureaucratic red tape. Committee chairman Stuart Tholen also expressed ex-pressed the group's concern that consolidation could prove detrimental detrimen-tal to the level of service county residents currently receive. But critics charge the figures used to make that determination are meaningless because professionals on the committee were unable to provide the actual costs of operation SEE DISPATCH ONA-2 Dispatch CONTINUED FROM A-l since 911 centers are funded out of varying departmental budgets. "If you don't know what your yardstick is, how in the hell can you tell if you'll be better or worse by going to another program," said committee member Al Mitchell, an engineer who initially attended the meetings and then dropped out when his workload interfered with his ability to participate. "That was what really got my attention at-tention early on is that they would not or could not produce cost breakdowns in a suitable form that would allow you to compare apples with apples. My gut impression was there was some dynasties on that committee that didn't want to be trifled with," he added. County Commissioner J. Dell Holbrook lauded the committee for the time and effort they put into the study, but agreed with Weller's and Mitchell's assessment "If I had a person running a department who couldn't codify costs for me, I'd say 'Jack, you don 't belong in this position. ' "You have two police chiefs there who are trying to protect their kingdoms, and that's Bountiful and Layton. And as long as their mayors want to support them in that regard, ' they'll do it," Holbrook said. Bountiful Mayor Bob Linnell defended the study. "I'm a little surprised by all the flak. I got the impression at the meeting everyone stood behind the committee and thought they had done a good job. As far as I know, their information was accurate and they did an excellent job sorting the whole thing through," he said. Layton Police Chief Doyle Talbot was angered by the accusations, accusa-tions, wondering why these "so-called "so-called critics didn't have the guts to air their grievances to the com-mittee." com-mittee." Capt. Jake R. Hunt, communications communica-tions and emergency services director direc-tor for the Davis County Sheriffs Office and one of the four professionals profes-sionals on the committee, said it was difficult for the agencies to separate 911 operating costs from other expenditures when they were all mixed together. Nevertheless, he stated he felt the agencies had done an accurate job in their estimations and were within several percentage points of actual figures. He was less certain about the cost estimates and staffing requirements the agencies gave for a consolidated system or for upgrading the current centers. "Everyone has a different idea of what's optimum and what's adequate,' ' he explained. Hunt also disagreed with Bountiful Boun-tiful and Layton's argument they would still have to pay to keep their city building open 24 hours a day to handle complaints and other auxiliary auxil-iary functions if the dispatch centers were consolidated. "I don't share that opinion," he said. "There are areas much larger than us where they don't find that necessary." Lay members of the committee relied on professionals for data on the consolidation costs incurred by other counties across the state. Tholen said that disadvantage was a challenge. "We had four main entities providing pro-viding information that was not independent. in-dependent. So whether it's wrong or not, you're dealing with a non-independent non-independent source of information. And that's always a risky variable. But I thought the committee did an excellent job." Hunt said he felt it was difficult for citizens on the committee to filter out some of the political smokescreen surrounding disagreements dis-agreements by differing agencies. "It was difficult for them to decide who was being accurate and who wasn't. I felt they did the best job they could,' ' he added. Committee members met every other week for six months to study the issue before making a recommendation. recom-mendation. Both Tholen and fellow committee member, Betty Brand, stated they felt the main benefit of the study was the increased communication com-munication between the four agencies, agen-cies, the committee's recommendation recommenda-tion for a master plan to handle future 911 needs and better interagency inter-agency coordination in purchasing equipment Hunt, Mitchell and others feel n outside, independent study is pro ably the only way the county will get a completely accurate evaluation evalua-tion of the issue. Tholen, Talbot and Brand don't think the results would be any different if the county paid money for an outside, independent study. "We're anxious to see something come from this study. It would be a shame if COG just let the matter drop," Brand said. |