Officials from Oneida County, New Hartford and Utica are planning to meet
later this month to discuss the possibility of consolidating their 911 dispatch
systems.
“I don’t want to keep having meetings in terms of the
exploration,” said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, who called the
meeting. “I want to talk to them both and say are we going to do this or not.”
The possibility of consolidating the three networks has long been
considered, and came up again this fall as New Hartford struggled with financial
difficulties.
“What comes of the discussions, we have to wait and see,”
New Hartford Supervisor Patrick Tyksinski said. “I think it’s worth while to
discuss this with the county, at least in my opinion.”
Tyksinski said he
would only move forward if it made financial sense for his town.
He
would object if the county asked for an annual fee for the service, but not if
they wanted the town to contribute funds for set-up costs, he said.
Utica Mayor David Roefaro said Tuesday at an Observer-Dispatch Editorial
Board meeting that he was looking for ways to trim his budget and pointed to 911
consolidation.
“We need to change the face of government,” he said,
speaking generally. “We need to consolidate.”
Utica and New Hartford are
the only municipalities in the county that still have their own call centers.
The county established its center in 1995.
The New Hartford dispatch
center is set to cost town tax payers $656,820 in 2010.
County officials
have estimated that incorporating Utica and New Hartford's calls into the
county's center in Oriskany could increase its operating costs by as much as $1
million. In 2009, the center, which fields more than 240,000 calls a year, cost
$2.3 million to operate.
Picente also said it’s likely they would likely
charge a fee to Utica and New Hartford, at least for the first few years to
offset start-up costs.
