Minutes Archive

Emergency Telephone District Board Meeting Minutes

January 22, 2008

Present:	Chairman Allen L. Byam, Jase Bolger, Greg Purcell, Eric Miller, Jim Demarest, Ken Tsuchiyama, Bill Hankinson

Also Present:	Mike Herman, City Manager/Albion, Don Cathcart, RadioCom, Frank Post, Emmett Township Department of Public Safety, Tom Hardy, Rob Behnke, Pennfield Township Supervisor, Wayne Wiley, Battle Creek City Manager, Frank Peterson, Springfield City Manager.

County Staff:	Mark Stuhldreher, Jeryl Schoepke, Alyce McDonagh

Call To Order/Recognition of Quorum:
The Meeting was called to order by Chairman Allen L. Byam at 8:45 a.m., in the Administrative Conference Room of the Marshall County Building, noting a quorum was in attendance.

Attempts were made to contact City Manager Mike Olson and Public Safety Director Mike Olson to see if they were going to be in attendance. It as determined no one from Marshall would be attending.

Chairman Byam asked everyone in attendance to introduce themselves, which was done.

Agenda Review and Member Additions:
The Agenda was accepted as presented.

Approval of Minutes - December 18, 2007:
The minutes of the December 18, 2008 Meeting were approved on a Motion made by Mr. Tsuchiyama and supported by Mr. Miller. Voice Vote - Motion Carried.

Financial Report:
Mr. Purcell advised the financials reflect payment mailed to the PSAPs through the month of December and, should there be any discrepancies noted, lease let him know.

E 911 Funding Discussion and Recommendation:
There was conversation concerning raising the surcharge rate and Mr. Purcell cautioned in this regard. Mr. Purcell advised that Harriet Miller-Brown 911 State Administrator, has asked Counties to be conservative with ay new surcharge requests, and if possible not to raise any more money than last year plus 2.7%. (2.7% is intended to apply an inflationary adjustment for 911 and can not be rejected by the MPSC.) Any increase above 2.7% must be approved by the PSC. If counties are not conservative with their surcharges, 911 providers could face extreme opposition to the sunset extension, or worse, a complete rewrite of the act making them dependent upon state government appropriations.

As we all know, revenues have been going down as more and more residents are doing away with their land lines and using their cell phones exclusively.

Mr, Purcell indicated that is his view, anything below 65 cents is a “reduction” in the current land line charge. While he wants to be considerate of telephone surcharge payers, he thinks the higher obligation is to ensure sufficient funding for this critical E 911 service. Mr. Purcell indicated he does not know whether the cities, AMSA or others are planning on coming to ask for a higher surcharge. This Board will have to make a recommendation and the County Board will need to adopt a resolution setting the surcharge.

Eric Miller stated he believes we should ask for an increase. Albion’s costs have gone up, their work force has been decreased from 34 to 24. Believes the Albion City Council will be submitting a Resolution asking for an increase in the Surcharge.

Mr. Wiley commented the City of Battle Creek is putting money in each year and they are willing to do whatever it takes to cut costs. Mr. Wiley suggests everyone get together and see what we can do to improve things for everyone.

Mr. Wiley asked, “what can we do to make something happen?”

Mr. Peterson commented the mechanism for additional funding is in the hands of the Board of Commissioners.

Mr. Purcell indicated he wants to keep the authority at the local level and believes it is inherent that we keep the surcharge down. If in fact Cities want to increase the surcharge they will have to approach the E 911 Board with their requests and background information substantiating their justification for their request(s).

Mr. Wiley indicated they still haven’t moved their dispatch center. He is interested in reducing their costs overall and providing quality service. He added, they would approve keeping the surcharge the same or less. Noting, he would love to see .65 cents but realizes this may be difficult for the County Board to support.

Mr. Wiley said he would entertain looking at a Countywide Dispatch. The only way to take advantage of this opportunity is to get down to brass tacks. He views this as a great opportunity. If we are serious about this issue, what needs to be done is to sit down together during the next 14 days and hammer out a deal. Mr.Wiley indicated that sometimes the shortest time frames coupled with absolute commitment toward making a truly consolidated dispatch a reality.

Mr. Wiley commented the County could possibly take over Dispatch or it could remain with the city it really doesn’t matter to him a bit. $.65 cents would make everyone whole.... Dispatch could continue the way it is now, commenting we still have not moved the “darn” thing. We must get all of the parties on board and further, we are going to have to go as close to .$.65 cents as we can get.

Mr. Wiley believes everyone should get together and sit down and hammer this thing out. Believes we should take this opportunity to move forward He encourages everyone to take a good look at this and stressed again that all parties need to work together to make this happen. Trust and cooperation are critical. Believes this will help everyone fiscally and should turn into a win-win situation.

Mr. Wiley commented he would need all AMSA subscribers to sign on to this recommended proposal and would possibly require a special meeting.

In addition to the telephone surcharge, the proposed Consolidated Dispatch Center will be funded through the general funds of Albion, Battle Creek, Marshall and members of AMSA.

Mr. Demarest commented this would take enormous effort. The representatives from Albion stated they believed their council would support a countywide dispatch effort if the Dispatch Center was to be centrally located, i.e., Marshall.

Mr. Post believes the state will be watching the counties closely to see how they handle their respective increase(s) and believes this will be a determining factor as to what direction h future legislation will go.

Mr. Purcell commented, this is the opportunity, this is the vehicle that will allow units to make their respective cases for increases if that is the way they want to go. Everything will be put on the table, but cautioned again, the final decision will be up to the Board of Commissioners..

There was continuing conversation regarding the surcharge amount and again, entities were encouraged to have a Resolution from each of their councils with their amount they would like to see levied and if it was above the current rate, justification for such an increase. Being mindful of the fact that all three cities are interested in reducing their General Fund subsidies.

Mr. Herman and Mr. Miller indicated that there would be a joint meeting of the Marshall and Albion City Councils held on February 11, 2008 at the Marshall County Building to continue discussion regarding the consolidation of the Albion and Marshall PSAPs. It was suggested perhaps the City of Battle Creek would like to attend the meeting as well.

Mr. Behnke indicated the next AMSA Meeting would be held on February 1, 2008. The Councils of Marshall, Albion and Springfield and the City of Battle Creek will all be meeting on February 4th. It was suggested that they have their Resolutions and justifications presented at their respective meetings to be passed along to the Calhoun County Board of Commissioners for/at their February 7th Meeting.

Chairman Byam suggested that he would have no problem calling a Special Meeting of the Emergency Telephone District Board to update the ETDB on discussions regarding consolidation of E 911 service delivery to the county and to consider if this Board desires to revise the recommendation to be made to the Calhoun County Board of Commissioners regarding the telephone surcharge.

Mr. Wiley indicated that he would suggest further discussion on the Consolidated Dispatch Center take place and since time is of the essence, asked if representatives from Albion, Marshall, Battle Creek and the County could meet on Wednesday, January 23, 2007. It was decided a Study Group would meet in the Marshall County Building Law Library on Wednesday, January 23, 2007 at 8:30 a.m.

Member Comments: None

Public Comments: None

Next Meeting: February 19, 2008

Adjournment: There being no further business to conduct at this time the meeting was recessed to the Chair, the time being 10:55 a.m.

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