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Emergency Telephone District Board Meeting MinutesMay 20, 2008
Call To Order/Recognition of Quorum: Vice-Chairman Eric Miller called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m., noting a quorum was in attendance. Agenda Review and Member Addition: Vice-Chairman Miller indicated he had an item that he would like added to the Agenda the 800 Template Review and would like Jim Zoss update the group. Motion by Mr. Tsuchiyama, supported by Mr. Post that the Agenda be approved as written with the inclusion of the item as requested by Mr. Miller. Voice Vote - Motion Carried. Approval of Minutes - April 15, 2008 The minutes of the April 15, 2008 meeting were approved on a Motion by Mr. Post and supported by Mr. Purcell. Voice Vote - motion carried. Financial Report: Mr. Purcell advised that the Financial Report reflected activity through the month of April and noted there was nothing unusual in the report. Payments have gone out to the PSAPs. Surcharge Appeal to the MPSC: Nancy advised the group that she had received information which indicates that Muskegon Central Dispatch 9-1-1 filed a petition for rehearing, as did Grand Traverse County and Huron County, in addition to our request. It is noted that “this matter is ripe for commission decision.” Based on this information, the MPSC may be making a decision shortly. Of the four requests received, three will be considered, and ours if among the three. Muskegon’s petition was insufficient (less than one page in length and clearly did not support their request/claim). Also, Nancy advised the group that she has heard from Attorney Doug VanEssen, who represents some 22 counties in connection with their appeals. The appeals were made in the Michigan Court of Appeals and all 22 have been “DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction because the March 11, 2008 order was not appealable at the time that the claim was filed.” The Order in part continues “If parties file motions for a new trial, reconsideration, rehearing on similar postjudgment relief within 30 days of the entry of the March 11, 2008 Order, the appeal ability of the order is suspended until the MPSC rules on those motions. A claim of appeal that is filed before the entry of the order deciding the motion is a premature claim.” We were not able to determine Mr. VanEssen’s reasoning for going directly to the Michigan Court of Appeals, instead of going to the MPSC or the Circuit Court in Ingham County. Nancy further noted that Verizon has filed an objection to Muskegon’s appeal to the MPSC and tangentially included all the other counties, including Calhoun, who have appealed. She has made a motion to strike their objection on the grounds that they have no standing to object because they are not a party to the action. Mr. VanEssen has asked Nancy if Calhoun County would like to enjoin the Counties he is representing ( at a cost of some $2,000.00). They will be asking for a stay of the March 11th MPSC order, continue to collect the surcharge amount allocated and place such amount(s) in an escrow account until such time as the Legislature makes their decision. She advised Attorney VanEssen that this would not be practical for Calhoun County. Nancy remains optimistic that we may hear something yet this week. Perhaps the MPSC will drag their heels until the legislature takes action. The MPSC can either grant or deny our request for a rehearing, or, they may approve our original request for $0.60¢ or leave it at the $0.33¢. Jill Fish noted she looks for some of the telecommunication providers to throw some roadblocks up along the way. Mr. Bolger indicated that he remains cautiously hopeful that we will at least be granted a rehearing, noting also that Representative Nofs continues to maintain close contact with the MPSC and continues to speak to them on a regular basis expressing his interest in the matter. It appears that Battle Creek continues moving forward with their project. Albion and Marshall representatives will not be able to sell the Consolidated Dispatch Project to their Commission should the project be moved to Battle Creek Mr. Purcell reminded everyone that in the original Resolution, passed by the Cities of Battle Creek, Marshall. Albion and the County stated: the entities “hereby commits to the pursuit of a single dispatch center located in available space within the county building in the county seat which will offer a centralized location, improved services to our citizens, increased safety to our emergency response personnel, and long term savings for our taxpayer....” Mr. Purcell indicated that at the last meeting, Mr. Wiley had commented that their figures show that it would cost approximately $400,000 to move the center to Marshall. At that time, Mr. Bolger asked Mr. Wiley to provide the cost figures - between the two locations. Mr. Wiley indicated at that time that Jill Fish had those figures. Mr. Tsuchiyama indicated that was not the case. Jill Fish is waiting for figures from Motorola (Gordon Webb) . Nancy Mullett encouraged the group to continue with their Tuesday afternoon meetings (as she had indicated in her brief that meetings were being held on a regular basis with respect to the consolidation). Vice-Chairman Miller inquired as to whether or not we should begin working on the Governance Structure. Mr. Purcell commented that this would be a topic for discussion at the next Work Study Group Meeting to be scheduled for May 27th at 3:00 p.m. Notification of the meeting will be emailed to all participants. Mr. Purcell advised that he will pull the information regarding the composition of the Administrative Board and other Options for Organizational Structure and send it out to the group, It was felt it would be in the best interest of the group to continue along the lines of progress in the hopes that our request for the .60¢ surcharge would be approved and then “find ourselves ahead of the game.” Jill Fish has assured the group she will continue to “stalk” Gordon Webb if need be in order to obtain the figures the group is waiting for. 800 Template Discussion: Jim Zoss advised the group that he has met with some members of the Law Enforcement Agencies (Four showed up) for the yearly update on templates and has begun to work out the problems. He will continue meeting with Law Enforcement Agencies that were not representative at the first meeting and work toward resolution of their problems as well. 800 to VHF Communication Problems There continues to be problems with the 800 to VHF devices and it continues to be a serious concern for Mr. Miller.The patch does not work - the system cuts out - This continues to be a serious problem for fire and emergency services. Chief Post indicated that all of his personnel carry two radios - they maintain the VHF system and 800 MHZ. Mr. Miller told the members that the police officers cannot communicate with fire service or vice versa which makes for an extremely dangerous situation. He is and continues to be concerned about the safety of his people. Mr. Post echoed Mr. Miller’s his sentiments.
Mr. Purcell suggested that Gordon Webb be contacted - we need technology folks here to evaluate these problems. Mr. Hardy advised the group that early on he was one of the biggest “nay-sayers” regarding the 800 system. Now, his department is up and running on the 800 and he says it is a very good system and works better than VHF. His Department has 5 portable 800's and they are currently on loan to Homer for a trial period. It appears that attitudes have changed regarding the 800 system, i.e, early on when the Fire Service(s) were adamantly opposed to the system. It is believed that those sentiments have changed considerably over time, but there again, funding is the critical issue. Mr. Miller believes a solution must be found - the status quo simply isn’t acceptable. The safety of the officers, fire service personnel and emergency services personnel is vitally important to all of the Departments and this situation simply isn’t working. Member Comments: None Public Comments: None Next Meeting: June 17, 2008 There being no further business to discuss at this time, the meeting was adjourned to the Call of the Chair, the time being 9:25 a.m.
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