By DENIS LANGLOIS, SUN TIMES STAFF
Posted 2 hours ago
A decision by West Grey's police board to transfer dispatch duties for the department from Hanover to Owen Sound has put the future of Hanover's emergency communications centre in jeopardy, says a police spokesman.
Insp. Chris Knoll of Hanover Police Services said all options will now be explored, including closing the dispatch facility.
"The West Grey police are our biggest customer and they have opted to not extend their current contract, so we are in the process of revisiting our business and our operations and we're going to be making some decisions at some point in the near future," he said Friday in an interview.
The town's 30-year-old communications centre dispatches emergency calls for 21 fire departments and three police services in Grey, Bruce and Huron counties. It employs nine people.
"The Hanover Police Services Board is working very hard to gather information and make decisions to give our employees and our customers some concrete decisions on the future of the Hanover Police and Fire Communications Centre as soon as possible," Knoll said in a statement. "We understand and appreciate the stress and potential hardship that our nine affected employees and remaining customers are currently facing because of the uncertainty of our future."
The West Grey Police Service board recently awarded a five-year contract to Owen Sound Police Services to take over dispatch work for the department starting Jan. 1, 2013.
The bid from Owen Sound came in at $97,440 a year, with annual increases of about 2%.
The Hanover bid came in at $117,618 a year, plus annual wage increases which have not yet been set, according to West Grey Mayor Kevin Eccles, who chairs the municipality's police board.
Eccles said "in good fiscal practice," West Grey issues request for proposal packages for services on a regular basis to secure the most competitive price. He said the Owen Sound bid laid out the costs for each year of the contract, while the Hanover bid still has unknowns related to wage hikes.
"At the end of the five years, (the Owen Sound contract) was still less than what our 2011 costs were," he said.
The planned transfer of dispatching work has raised questions and concerns in West Grey and Hanover.
An e-mail is being circulated that calls on people to attend West Grey's council meeting Monday.
"The decision also impacts West Grey Fire Services and all bordering fire services, Hanover Police Service, Wingham police service and other local fire services as these agencies are dispatched by the Hanover police communication centre. More importantly, it transfers responsibility for providing this service from a group of people who 'live work and play' in West Grey to an agency that is not familiar with the West Grey residents, businesses, landmarks and civic addressing," the unsigned e-mail says.
Sharon Hohl, president of the Hanover police association, said some dispatch centre employees plan to make a presentation at Monday's council meeting.
"We are hoping to get public support and that the police service board will revisit this decision," she said.
Eccles said concerns about dispatchers' unfamiliarity with West Grey after the transfer is a non-issue.
"I'll give it that Hanover dispatchers, from doing the job and doing it in West Grey, probably have some familiarity, but to say that that couldn't be garnered by any other dispatch within a certain amount of time would be stretching it considerably," he said.
Owen Sound Police Services has been working to secure contracts to assume the dispatch duties of other emergency services in Ontario as a way to generate additional revenue.
The department now does dispatch work for Owen Sound police and fire and the municipality of Saugeen Shores and recently signed a contract for dispatch work for Pembroke.
Garth Pierce, chairman of the Owen Sound police board, said the added work is "excellent news" for the city and its taxpayers.
"These are very tough economic times and we're doing what we can to meet our obligation to the city," he said.
He said some new people will be hired, but he did not know yet how many.
Source: http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3428413
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