Dispatch move proposed

Dispatch services for the greater Union County area has been controlled within the city of Creston’s jurisdiction. That might change as both the mayor of Creston and the Union County Sheriff have begun early discussions to make the shift from the city to Union County.

Union County Sheriff Brian Bolton appeared before the board of supervisors on Wednesday to propose and discuss the shifting of dispatch from the city of Creston to Union County.

Dispatch is run through Creston’s law enforcement center, with the city taking care of salaries and benefits for hired dispatchers. The flaw to this, according to Bolton, is the ability for the city to hire full-time dispatchers.

The law enforcement center had consolidated two part-time positions into one full-time, which Bolton saw as a problem. Covering hours, especially hours which could be filled instead by a part-time position, was not as easy.

“Not having the ability to hire part-timers has put them, it’s been hard to fill those gaps,” Bolton said.

The switch was supported by Creston Police Chief Paul Ver Meer, according to Bolton. Bolton said that if dispatch was controlled by the county, it would be easier for jailers and dispatchers to swap roles to cover hours.

This puts pressure on both dispatchers and jailers to potentially be cross-trained, but Bolton said this wasn’t the focus. Instead, he described the switch as more of a way to take advantage of the county’s current situation.

“We don’t want all jailers to be dispatchers. We don’t want all dispatchers to be jailers,” Bolton said. “That will not work and people will leave; we don’t want that. But, there’s a few that can share dual responsibilities.”

All three county supervisors said the switch is worth considering, although the board would prefer to see the costs of the switch. Supervisor Dennis Hopkins said he will be supportive if it would save the city or law enforcement money and if the county was not accruing additional costs.

Additional issues mentioned by Bolton included the transitions between union employees and paying for additional benefits which were promised to city employees which would now be county employees.

Supervisor Dennis Brown said this opportunity could relieve dispatchers with a heavy workload while staying committed to the citizens of the county.

With the county willing to consider the change, the next step is for the city council to be on board. City officials such as Ver Meer and Mayor Waylon Clayton were both supportive, with Clayton appearing before the board on Wednesday with Bolton.

“The only thing that would give us any hang up would be funds,” Bolton said.

Due to the majority of calls to dispatch being medical, Bolton also mentioned having a discussion with Greater Regional to make sure the change wouldn’t disrupt their work.

Hopkins described the initial discussion on Wednesday as an “exploratory” discussion, with no plans set in stone as of yet. Following cooperation with city council, law enforcement and other parties, along with additional information with the cost of the switch, the subject will be discussed further.

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Union County will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, Aug. 20, for the county’s decommissioning plan for windmills.