City council concerned about dispatch center

PALMER -- After hearing reports from their police chief and police department communications manager, members of the Palmer city council expressed concerns about a federally funded dispatch center project in which Wasilla is taking the lead.

Palmer's police department runs a dispatch center that serves both city police departments, the Houston fire department, the Mat-Su Borough fire and ambulance services, and on a limited basis, the Palmer post of the Alaska State Troopers. Palmer runs the dispatch center and dispatchers are city employees. The other partners in the current arrangement each pay fees to Palmer according to how much they use the dispatch center.

That arrangement will likely change over the next couple years. The city of Wasilla received a $1 million appropriation from the federal government to design and build a new consolidated dispatch center. Former Wasilla Police Chief Charlie Fannon is heading up the project and said this week that Wasilla is asking the federal government for an additional $2 million.

The Palmer city council heard reports from its public safety officials at its Tuesday meeting. Palmer Police Chief Russ Boatright seemed cautiously optimistic about the Wasilla dispatch project.

"I believe that it could be a very positive thing for the city of Palmer -- whether it's going to be or not is a good question," Boatright said.

Council member Brad Hanson said, from past conversations with Wasilla officials, he thought the new dispatch center would be operated by a new independent agency.

"Kind of like a trans-Alaska pipeline type of situation where we would all be owners of this entity … Is that still the concept or is Wasilla more in charge of the dispatch center or can you comment on that?" Hanson asked.

Boatright said the concept of an independent authority was still alive, but he couldn't predict what would happen in the future. Boatright and Palmer Communications Supervisor Chris Fritz have been attending meetings with Fannon and other public safety officials as part of the dispatch center planning process.

At Tuesday's meeting, City Manager Tom Healy said the process seems to be following the grant money. As the discussion wound down, Mayor Jim Cooper called for comments from the council members.

"I have some comments, but I'm not sure they're appropriate so I'll keep them to myself," Hanson said.

"I second Mr. Hanson's inappropriate comments," council member Tony Pippel said.

Fannon told the Frontiersman that meetings on the project are taking place regularly, are open to the public and are announced in the Mat-Su Borough's regular meeting announcements.

"We don't want to have any ideas that just sit there and ferment. We want to keep everything open and above board," Fannon said.

Fannon said he expected caution from the beginning.

"The only thing that's tilts the playing field is that Wasilla received the grant," Fannon said. "The real ownership of the grant goes back to Wasilla, so we're the ones that are going to be audited and we're the ones that are going to be responsible for the grant."

Fannon said the concept of an independent entity is still alive -- Wasilla has taken the lead in part because no such entity exists yet.

"My hope is that it will eventually evolve into [an independent authority] because that is what has been most successful in the lower 48," Fannon said.

Calls for emergency services are sure to rise in the Valley. In her report to the Palmer council, Fritz shared dispatch center growth statistics.

"If this were my private business," Fritz said, "I would hire two more dispatchers and tell my customers that costs are going up."

There are currently 12 dispatchers employed at the center. The number of 911 calls handled has grown from 12,179 in 1993 to 21,621 in 2001. 1993 was the first year that Wasilla had a police department.

Fannon said the Palmer police chief wasn't the only one cautious. "I don't think Russ [Boatright] is the only one who is cautiously optimistic. I do think the level of concern that we have varies according to the technical knowledge that we have."