The new year brought change for the Mandeville Police Department and Fire District 4, a change that Mandeville Police Chief Tom Buell and Fire Chief Earl Gorrondona believe will improve communication in the city and the surrounding district.
Beginning at 5 a.m. on Thursday, the Mandeville Police Department took over fire and emergency medical dispatching for District 4. The change was approved by the City Council at a special meeting on Dec. 29. The new dispatching system will save time in getting units out on the street, Gorrondona said.
Prior to the change, the fire district's calls were dispatched from a centralized fire district in Slidell. "This caused a little delay," Gorrondona said, because the majority of the calls were going to Mandeville Police Department and having to be transferred to the Slidell location, which dispatches for all seven fire districts.
Gorrondona said since the fire district works closely with Mandeville Police Department on medical and fire emergencies, dispatching from one location just made more sense. "It will make both services more proficient," he said.
The new system calls for the fire district to pay the city $120,000 a year for their communication services. The Mandeville Police Department will hire two new dispatchers to handle the increase in calls. The additional dispatchers will allow the department to have three dispatchers during the day and two at night, Gorrondona said.
In other matters, the council approved a grant application in the amount of $25,000 for Sunset Point Park on Lake Pontchartrain. The grant will allow the city to build a handicapped-accessible walkway at the park. The walkway will join two existing walkways that were also paid for with rural grants.
The city has been making improvements to the public park for the past 12 years. A federally funded fishing pier is expected to be built at Sunset Point within the next year.
