Schenectady County officials are advancing plans for the countywide dispatch center, but Glenville is being left out of the equation.
After 18 months of discussion between county and Glenville officials, County Spokesman Joe McQueen said the central dispatch plans have to move forward without Glenville in the mix. Negotiations have been ongoing between the town and county, which have hinged on Glenville officials claiming the funding model for the system is unfair. The most recent meeting was around two weeks ago, said McQueen, which was when the county decided a different route needed to be taken.
“After numerous meetings, the legislators involved felt we were just not going to get anywhere. The feeling was we can’t just keep doing this, and we have to move forward with the plan,” said McQueen. “It is too important an issue. We are talking about increased safety and saving money for the municipalities.”
The towns of Niskayuna and Rotterdam are already on board for the plan and the City of Schenectady is in the process of formally supporting it, said McQueen. The county received a $1 million grant from the state to implement the new dispatch center, but the process needs to be set in motion before March 2012 to not lose the funding. The plan, according to McQueen, was estimated to save Glenville $105,000 annually.
Glenville Supervisor Christopher Koetzle said he isn’t convinced the savings would reach the projected figure.
“The county represents the savings to be a guarantee … but when you ask them to put it in a contract and guarantee it, they refuse to,” said Koetzle. “It is a bit problematic for them to say there is a savings they can’t guarantee and it hasn’t materialized yet.”
Koetzle said he is also worried about the long-term viability savings of the project.
“Everybody is looking at the short term with the grant money,” said Koetzle. “I want to make sure that this is the right solution for the long term from everybody.”
Where the new center will be located is yet to be determined because McQueen said he wanted all the municipalities involved to discuss what placement would best suit everyone. Along with being concerned about the placement, Koetzle said he is concerned with the weighted voting system the county proposed.
The system would have each municipality’s vote reflecting its share of dispatch costs and revenue generated from mandatory 911 fees from cellphone calls. This would also have the county receiving a weighted vote, said Koetzle, which he felt gave the county too much control over the system.
McQueen said county officials felt Glenville didn’t want to be included in the system.
“The general impression they got was Glenville would not be a part of this,” McQueen said. “That is why the Legislature then asked the county finance commissioner to rework the proposal with Glenville not being a part of it. We do believe there will continue to be a savings for all the municipalities involved. … It may not be as large.”
Koetzle said county officials got the wrong impression from the town.
“If that is the impression they got, then that is the judgment they brought to the meeting,“ said Koetzle. “I said that Glenville is very much interested in staying in this. … I made it very clear when we began that I was willing to find a way to make it work.”
McQueen said the revised plan should be completed in the near future to reflect what sort of savings municipalities could expect moving forward without Glenville.
