Dispatchers move to new 9-1-1 Center

Wednesday was the first day the Grundy County and Morris dispatchers worked together under the same roof.

Both the Grundy and Morris dispatchers this week were moved into the new 9-1-1 Center located south of the Illinois River on Illinois 47, next to the county highway building.

On Monday, the Grundy County dispatch system was moved and put online in the new building and Wednesday Morris dispatch was moved in. Wednesday evening, workers were at the courthouse working on the old sheriff's center to make it the backup dispatch center, said Chris Kindelspire, director of electronic operations for the county.

Although still in the middle of wires and equipment at dinner time Wednesday, Kindelspire said it felt good to be almost done. The plan was to have the dispatchers in at the beginning of last month, but due to an error on AT&T's end, they couldn't get in until now.

"We're in good shape. The training of all the dispatchers went well and they're working all together today for the first time," said Sheriff Terry Marketti Wednesday.

The two dispatch groups are still separate entities working in the same building, but are close to being united as one dispatch team. At Tuesday's Grundy County Board meeting, it approved an agreement with the Grundy County Emergency Telephone System Board (9-1-1 board) to combine the dispatchers.

The board voted 10-4 Tuesday, with Chris Balkema, Frank Halpin, Eric Rasmussen and David Welter opposed, to approve the intergovernmental agreement establishing the joint operation. The vote came without the agreement having been on file for 30 days, as is the normal practice of the board.

Chairman Ron Severson explained that state law only mandates that the county's tax levy and budget be placed on file for public review. It is the county board's own rules that require other action items to be first placed on file. A super-majority of the all board members can vote to waive the on-file period for such items.

Saying the ETSB was ready to make the move to the new facility, Severson asked the board to consider the agreement without the step of placing the document on file.

"We want that to go smoothly," Severson said of transition, which will remove the dispatchers from the employ of the county and, instead, make them employees of the ETSB.

The board voted 13-1 to waive the filing period, one more favorable vote than was needed for the required two-thirds majority. Welter cast the lone dissenting vote.

Even with the county's approval, the intergovernmental agreement still It has to be approved by all of the county's municipalities and fire departments that the dispatch center services. Each one pays a different amount for the services, with Grundy and Morris paying the largest contributions, said Marketti.

According to information presented to the county board Tuesday, the county will be responsible for paying $1,151,039.12 toward the $1.85 million cost of personnel for the dispatch services. Morris will pay $501,273.35 and Minooka will pay $100,000. Other taxing bodies will pay lesser amounts in a proportionate fashion.

During the first three years of the agreement the contributions by Morris and Grundy County, which will also be paying to lease the facility from the Public Building Commission, will not increase even if the expenses are higher than expected. Any additional costs will be divided proportionately among the other taxing bodies.

Any surplus, however, will be divided proportionately among all taxing bodies, including the county and Morris.

"I don't see there being a problem, because the only change is the memorandum of understanding," Marketti said regarding the approval of the other taxiing bodies involved.

The county, 9-1-1 board and the Metropolitan Alliance of Police union recently agreed on an memorandum of understanding after months of a delay over Sheriff's Law Enforcement Personnel (SLEP) benefits.

"We came to a meeting of the minds," Severson said.

The county had wanted all the dispatchers, once unified, to receive Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) benefits, which is what the city dispatchers currently have. The Grundy dispatchers wanted to keep their SLEP. They eventually compromised and all county dispatchers employed prior to July 1, 2000, continue to receive SLEP. This gives seven of the dispatchers SLEP and the rest IMRF. Any new dispatchers hired will receive IMRF.

Once the municipalities and fire departments approve the whole agreement, all the dispatchers will switch to one unified payroll May 1.

The new center has 17 dispatchers plus one director. Veteran dispatcher for Grundy County, Donna Holtan is the new director. Holtan has been a dispatcher for Grundy for 23 years.

Marketti said it feels good to see this project coming to completion and despite complaints about the building's cost, the facility was needed and emergency responders are going to be proud of it. It will provide for faster response and more safety for the responders, he said. With a new computer-aided dispatch system, responders will know all the history of the people they are responding to.

"It's going to be outstanding for the county," he said.

The new equipment is so state-of-the-art that the communications vendors are using the new facility as a model, said Marketti.

The old sheriff's dispatch will still be used as the backup dispatch center and Morris dispatch, which was in the old city hall, is now empty. Morris officials have said previously the plan is to sell the building.

The sheriff hopes to have an open house at the new center in April.

Managing Editor Patrick Graziano contributed to this story.