Minutes Archive

Emergency Telephone District Board Meeting Minutes

May 15,2007

Present:	Vice-chairman Michael Olson, Eric Miller, Greg Purcell and Bill Hankinson

Excused:	Chairman Allen L. Byam

Also Present:	Ken Tsuchiyama, Jill Fish, Frank Post, Gordon Webb and Don Cathcart

Call To Order/Recognition of Quorum:
Vice-Chairman Michael Olson briefly delayed the meeting until 8:42 a.m. in hopes of getting a quorum. At 8:42 Mr. Olson indicated that there was not a quorum in attendance and as a result, we would be having a roundtable discussion this morning.

Mr. Olson indicated the Great Lakes Homeland Security Training Conference & Exposition was held in Grand Rapids May 8-11, 2007, and many members of the law enforcement community experienced difficulties with their radios. Jill Fish reported Battle Creek Dispatch could not get onto the 800 system. When they would 'push to talk'; it would 'kick them off the system. Mr. Olson asked Gordon Webb if he had any information concerning this matter. Mr. Webb indicated the malfunction which occurred at the Amway Grand Plaza Parking Ramp was a system issue. There being 72 radios and 42 talk groups (all directed to one tower) caused a Deaffiliation issue with the Amway Grand. Mr. Webb indicated he is working with the State on this issue . Further, it was noted that if all of the radios in question had been turned off, perhaps the scenario of the radios being disabled would not have occurred.

Mr. Purcell suggested as a result of this occurrence, perhaps this might be a good opportunity for a Training Session.

Financial Report:
Mr. Purcell indicated that the vouchers have been sent to the PSAPs and in the event discrepancies are noted, please contact Mr. Purcell and/or the Finance Department.

Mr. Olson indicated he is still working with FEMA to close out the Fire Grant, noting it has been a long process.

Battle Creek Dispatch Relocation Update
Assistant City Manager Ken Tsuchiyama indicated things are moving, albeit slowly. At this time, his best estimate would be the move would take place sometime before the end of the year.

Albion-Marshall Dispatch Consolidation Update:
Mr. Olson provided an update on the proposed consolidation of the Marshall and Albion Dispatch Centers. Mr. Olson advised that there had been a joint meeting held with the Marshall and Albion City Councils in attendance and the meeting had been facilitated by Lynn Harvey, retired MSU Professor who is a recognized expert in the technical field with putting fire authorities together and helping communities come together with joint agreements. Together, Marshall and Albion handle about 3% of the county's overall 911 call volume as two of the three Public Safety Answering Points. The other PSAP, the City of Battle Creek handles the other 97% call volume.

Due to the fact that handling 3% of the telephone calls is not enough to qualify as a Emergency Telephone District under Public Act 32 (which will be replaced by Public Act 249 on December 31, 2007, that would finance the operation with telephone surcharge fees, the two cities are moving toward creating an authority under PSA 57. That was the advice of Dr. Harvey.

Mr. Olson commented that he anticipates it will be 60-75 days before they hear back from their respective councils. It was noted that Calhoun County has indicated they would have space available in their old District Court Area that might be considered as a possible relocation for the Dispatch Center. At this point in time, both Mr. Olson and Mr. Miller are identifying costs, looking at their staffing requirements, etc. Both Messrs. Olson and Miller indicated that the suggested consolidation has, indeed, created healthy discussions and at this time they are not sure where this will go.

Jill Fish mentioned that the 911 Legislation is being taken up in the Michigan Senate this week. Bills 410 and 411, SB410 is sponsored by Senator Cameron Brown R-St. Joseph County) and SB 411 is sponsored by Senator Ray Basham (D-Wayne County.) These bills would eliminate both the 29 cent surcharge on cell phones and the current surcharge levied by counties on land lines.

Calhoun County Intergovernmental Cooperation Summit Report
Leaders from almost every level of government in Calhoun County met on April 25th to look for ways to share services and cut costs. More than 60 county, city, township and village officials attended the meeting discussing areas for consolidation. Eventually arriving at a list off eight focus areas. (Areas include joining together for group insurance plans, coming up with a county-wide strategy to address crime and improving the county's technological infrastructure to aid internet access.)

Mr. Olson noted that the days of "turf" are over - we are going to be seeing more and more consolidation of services as well as regionalization within the not too distant future.

Member Comments - None

Public Comments - None

Next Meeting June 19, 2007

End of Meeting: 9:10 a.m.

Calhoun County
315 West Green Street
Marshall, MI 49068
Phone: (269) 781-0700
Fax: (269) 781-0140

Click here to contact the webmaster at Calhoun County
with your comments/feedback on this website.

Click here to report technical problems with this website,
i.e., broken links, pages not found, etc.

Several photos included in this
web site were provided courtesy of Scene Magazine.

DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript

Site Use Policy

Site Design/Development by