Troopers out, forestry in at dispatch center

Draft copies of a consultant's assessment of emergency and police dispatch needs in the Valley have been circulating among local public safety and government officials. The report comes at a time when the manager at the current dispatch center in Palmer is asking government officials to increase staff and add equipment to the center.

The study will be finalized and more widely available in the first week of July, according to Borough Manager John Duffy. The borough hired the consultant for input on a new emergency dispatch center that is being funded by the federal government through grants to the city of Wasilla.

The report recommends a board controlled management structure with equal representation from the various governments using the center and includes the state of Alaska Division of Forestry as a key player in the new center.

"The short version is this, it recommends that a service bureau be created," Duffy said last week. Duffy also said that while the Alaska State Troopers -- who operate their own dispatch center on Fort Richardson -- were not interested in joining the effort, the Forestry fire fighters were.

"We think that Forestry replaces the troopers at the table," Duffy said.

Currently, Mat-Su Borough fire and ambulance services and the Wasilla police department both pay for dispatch service from the Palmer police department's dispatch center. All three governments pay equally for dispatch services, but Palmer has the responsibility of running the center. The situation will likely change within two years.

Last year, the city of Wasilla sought grant money from the federal government to build a new dispatch center. When funds were earmarked by Congress, Wasilla hired a new police chief and created a position for former chief Charlie Fannon to work on pulling together stake-holders to plan a management scheme and choose technology for the center. So far Wasilla has been granted $1 million for the project. Fannon has said in the past that the center could run between $2 million and $3 million. Fannon was traveling last week and unavailable to comment for this story.

Current Wasilla PD chief Don Savage said the development with Forestry came as a surprise to some -- but also said for the most part there were "no surprises" in the document.

"Forestry was factored in as a major part of the dispatch center, and that kind of came as a surprise to some of the rest of us," Savage said. The recommendation of a service bureau doesn't automatically mean the center would be independent of the Wasilla city government, according to Savage.

"In our estimation it still needs to fall under an established government, and what we're looking at is having it under Wasilla," Savage said.

"Some day it may evolve into an actual independent agency," Savage said, adding that he didn't believe such a "joint powers agency" existed in Alaska.

Savage said there could be management hurdles -- he specifically mentioned the Alaska Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) as a possible hitch to having employees work for an independent agency.

But the board structure will still be new, according to Savage and the centers management will report to that board rather than one government.

"What we're trying to create is more of a partnership," Savage said.

Christine Fritz, supervisor of the Palmer dispatch center has asked the city of Palmer for permission to add three new dispatchers to the team of 12 dispatchers working there. In a May 31 memo to Palmer city hall, Fritz criticized the consultant's staffing estimates for the new center. The consultant's estimate was 14.

"The report did not indicate how the consultants arrived at that number, and I think it is low" Fritz said.

Fritz has told the Palmer council that regardless of Wasilla's plans the current situation needs attention. Fritz even told the politicians where to start looking for money. Last year the dispatch center refunded $26,000 to each of the three major players at the end of the year, according to her memo.

Savage said he believed that new technology would take care of some of Fritz's staffing concerns but also said that some members of the panel were concerned about the consultants estimates for pay rates.

Fritz isn't so sure the new technology will actually reduce staff because calls for emergency services are increasing. She said so at a Palmer council meeting earlier this month.

"We initially thought that technology would alleviate the need for additional dispatch positions -- that's not the case," she told the council.

Mayor Jim Cooper was more succinct.

"Someone still needs to answer the phone," Cooper said.