Council hears reasons for dispatch fee increase

The October 24 council meeting was moved up to a 6 p.m. start in order to accommodate a presentation by staff from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

911 Coordinator Jo Borden and Jail Superintendent Lyle Hendrickson gave a presentation intended to explain how the Sheriff’s Department arrived at their proposed increase in dispatch fees to the towns of Odessa, Wilbur and Reardan and the National Park Service. At the end of the presentation, it appeared that more questions were raised than answered.

As previously reported in The Record, the cost to the town of Odessa has remained level at $2,500 for several years. Sheriff Wade Magers, who was originally scheduled to make the presentation, looked at several different formulas to arrive at a proposed cost of $18,000 per year, an increase of 720%. Magers has agreed to allow the towns contracting for the service to raise their payments incrementally over three years, beginning with $6,000 for 2012.

The Lincoln County dispatch center has two dispatchers on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. After state reimbursements for call receiving salaries, the department budget is $369,000, which includes unreimbursed salary and benefits, equipment maintenance, office supplies and phone lines, user fees and information technology services.

A call for service is defined as “an assignment given to a Deputy or Officer that requires their response. These can be activities initiated by an officer, such as a traffic stop, but the majority of these come from 911 and administrative line calls from parties requesting an officer response.”

According to Hendrickson, the system receives approximately 5300 calls per year. Odessa accounts for about 5% of those calls. The first option for calculating user fees figures 5% of $369,000 is $18,450.

The second option uses a base of 15% of dispatchers being accessed by the three town police departments. That equates to a total of $55,359 in salary allocated to the three, and $18,453 when divided three ways.

The third option was based on population, of the county and each town. Lincoln County has 10,200 residents, which comes to $36 per person per year. Odessa’s population of 910 would result in a cost of $32,760.

Borden and Hendrickson then fielded questions from the council, as well as Town Marshal Mike Wren and Deputy Marshal Bryce Peterson. When some remained unanswered, council members agreed that they would still like to meet with Magers to discuss the proposed increase.

According to Borden, the increase is “not a money maker for the department. We’re just trying to balance the budget.”

Public hearings

After the presentation, council members moved swiftly to set public hearing dates for the annual tax levy and proposed revenues (November 14) and the final proposed budget (November 28).

Fire Department

Fire Chief Don Strebeck reported that the department had responded to a chimney fire and a vehicle accident since the last meeting.

Public works

Public Works director Roger Sebesta informed council members that the repair to the pool slide would have to be postponed until spring. Precision Fiberglass, the company awarded the bid, has informed Sebesta that outdoor temperatures should be at least 64 degrees in order to do the repair work.

Police department

Town Marshal Mike Wren was asked to sum up the summer. “Much as usual,” he replied, then went on to say there had been a rise in MIP (minor in possession) incidents.

Deputy Marshal Bryce Peterson was asked how his bicycle patrols were going. He reported that he believes the bike has allowed him to catch more MIPs and have more positive interaction with kids as well. He also said that he is able to cover more ground more quickly and can hear really well when using the bike. He felt that the less intimidating presence of an officer on a bike has helped to defuse situations that might otherwise have resulted in an incident.

Councilmember reports

Councilwoman Lois Harp met with the Friends of the Pool. She said the group has been working on their goals for the next couple of years, and would like to attend at least one of the council’s budget meetings.

Budget workshop

Council moved on to a page-by-page review of proposed expenditures for 2012. Mayor Doug Plinski remarked that the group is very close to having a final budget, which must be presented at the public hearing scheduled for November 28.