Lucas County plan for 911 consolidation faces opposition

A plan to consolidate TOLEDO — Lucas County communities’ separate 911 services into one county-wide service is receiving push back, with two city municipal councils voting to resist the measure, and local citizens forming an opposition group.

For months, county and community officials have been studying a proposal to merge each separate 911 center in the county into one new, independent agency that serves everyone. Proponents of a consolidated 911 center say it will be safer and more efficient for residents, allow police and fire crews to respond faster to emergencies, and save millions of dollars in operations costs.

Opponents, though, say that the potential disadvantages of the plan outweigh the potential benefits.

“I don’t want to villainize county officials,” said Timothy Zale, Oregon councilman. “I just don’t think this is the best thing for us at this time.”

Both Oregon and Maumee city councils passed resolutions opposing the consolidation proposal during recent meetings. But ultimately, the decision about whether to go forward with consolidation will be in the hands of the 911 planning committee.

That five-member committee, as defined by state law, will consist of the president of the county board of commissioners, which is Tina Wozniak, the mayor of the county’s largest city, which is Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, a trustee from the county’s largest township, which is Sylvania Township, one person to represent the remaining townships as decided by those townships, and a mayor from one of the other municipalities to represent the remaining municipalities.

That planning committee is tentatively scheduled to convene in early September, said Matt Heyrman, director of public safety for Lucas County. If a majority of the committee votes to approve consolidation, then every community has to participate.

“You can’t opt out,” Heyrman said.

In Oregon Monday night, citizens protested the proposal for consolidating, with many seeing the plan as amounting to their city losing its dispatchers, who work closely with the public as well as the police. Steve Salander, organizer of the Lucas County Citizens United Against 911 Consolidation, said the dispatch service works great and people don’t want it to change.

“Our dispatchers know our officers,” he said. “They know our city like the back of their hands.”

Right now, he said, when someone calls 911 or the non-emergency line in Oregon, the call is answered right away. Salander said he is worried about consolidation negatively impacting how quickly calls are answered, as well as response time for emergencies.

“We’re looking at the safety and life of our officers and citizens,” he said. “They’re looking at dollars and cents.”

Six primary 911 dispatch centers are in Lucas County: Toledo, Sylvania, Sylvania Township, Maumee, Oregon, and the Lucas County Sheriff ’s Office. Each center serves its own jurisdiction, with the sheriff ’s office covering the 15 municipalities in Lucas County without a dedicated center.

A 0.7-mill property tax pays for the $6.1 million in 911 infrastructure that every center uses, Heyrman said. Each operating jurisdiction or agency pays for its own operations costs. In total, across all six centers, 911 operations cost approximately $15.5 million annually.

If the six centers were consolidated into one, total costs are projected to ultimately decrease to $9.4 million, Heyrman said.

And with a consolidated system, no calls would have to be transferred to another jurisdiction, he said. Though GPS can often pinpoint someone’s location and allow them to reach the proper 911 dispatch, GPS isn’t perfect, and occasionally someone near the border between communities will reach the wrong dispatch center. In emergencies, those seconds count.

Additionally, in situations that require a large police or fire response from multiple jurisdictions, that operation could be coordinated from one location, Heyrman said.

Maumee Mayor Richard Carr attended the protest in Oregon with Maumee Police Chief David Tullis. Both are opposed to the consolidation proposal, and Carr said he is specifically opposed to how fast the plan is moving forward and with how the ultimate decision is made.

“I have a real problem with how it’s being pushed through,” he said.

Every municipality should get an equal say in whether they want consolidation, or at least the communities with their own 911 center should have a greater say, Carr said, though he understands the five-member committee procedure is outlined in state law and cannot be changed at the local level.

But there’s no harm, he said, in slowing down the process and allowing community officials to meet with each other and discuss the potential benefits and drawbacks of consolidation.

“Once they do consolidate, there’s no turning back,” he said. “Once this decision is made, it’s not going to be revisited.”