Three parties submit bids for borough dispatch

WASILLA — The head of Mat-Su borough emergency services said three parties have officially bid to provide emergency dispatch services.

The bid for the dispatch services officially closed June 28, the conclusion of a twice-extended period for people to potentially replace the City of Palmer as the communications center for hospitals and fire trucks in an area the size of West Virginia. The City of Wasilla currently maintains a separate dispatch center dedicated to Wasilla police and Alaska State Trooper operations. Officials from both parties have been public about their intention to bid, meaning one third unidentified party also is in the mix.

The contract for emergency services dispatching has become something of a political football between the borough’s two largest incorporated cities. Borough officials, who say the structure of the two-part system causes inefficiencies (and in some cases, borough assembly members have claimed, has put lives at risk), have sought to improve the way dispatch operates in the borough.

Dispatch services last went out to bid in 2014, when Palmer submitted two bids, and was initially awarded a contract identical to the decade-old bid to them. Wasilla officials contested that award, claiming that the borough hadn’t followed its own rules. The borough dispatch center has remained in Palmer since, under the terms of the old contract, until this year.

Purchasing officer Russ Krafft said he couldn’t formally release the names or number of proposers, citing borough code.

“The code is developed that way so if we go into negotiation, we don’t tell them how many other bidders there are,” he said. “Whether it’s one or if it’s 10, if we tell them they’re the only bidder, that gives them a lot of negotiating power.”

Once all the proposals are reviewed, officials will evaluate the various proposals in terms of equipment, personnel, and cost, Krafft said. The recommended replacement could be selected by July 19, which would be the deadline to make the cutoff for the Aug. 2 assembly meeting.

Palmer’s prior year contract expired July 1 at the start of the new fiscal year, and while borough assembly members voted to extend a six-month contract with a cost-of-living adjustment to Palmer over written objections from city manager Nathan Wallace, the Palmer city council has not yet voted to accept it, said borough emergency services director Bill Gamble.

Borough and city officials met Thursday, and agreed the contract had entered an automatic 30-day negotiation period, Gamble said Friday, and both sides agreed that dispatch services would continue.

Borough officials are satisfied with the performance of the Palmer center, but hope to reduce structural inefficiencies in the system. The borough currently absorbs the IT and maintenance cost for the system, while Palmer provides the personnel, which was unacceptable, Gamble said.

“We should own it all, or we shouldn’t own any of it,” he said.

Officials weren’t bound to accept any of the proposals, Gamble said.

“We may take a look at the proposals and decide maybe the borough should own its own regional dispatch center,” he said. “There are still just a lot of questions to be answered.”

Wallace said Palmer officials were willing live with a six-month contract.

“We’re not going to shut down dispatch services for the community,” he said. “We just wanted some continuity to our service. If we have to go back to the bargaining table in month five, so be it.”

Wallace blamed borough officials for some aspects of the service assembly members have criticized. For example, dropped calls were the result of borough-owned equipment in desperate need of replacement, Wallace said.

“We’ve asked for upgrade and actually the E911 board has approved those upgrades,” he said. “For whatever reason, the borough hasn’t moved fast enough.”

He also said Palmer officials hadn’t given much thought to what would happen if the borough contract went to another party, but that the center would likely reduce personnel through attrition to the right size for managing Palmer city police and fire services.

“We enjoy providing the services,” he said. “It’s been our banner to provide service not only to our city, but to the community as well.”

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.