March 27--ASOTIN -- The city of Asotin has put a halt to dispatch contract negotiations with Asotin County until the county provides more documentation.
At a council meeting Monday night, city officials said they have been trying to nail down the true costs of emergency dispatch, but numerous public records requests to the county have been unfulfilled. Without the information, the city has no plans to sign a subcontract with the county.
Last fall, a Whitcom official assured the city of Asotin that dispatch will continue, whether a subcontract is in place or not. The regional dispatch center serves all agencies within the county, and the bill is currently paid by Asotin County, city of Clarkston and the Asotin County Fire District No. 1.
Asotin officials have said the city wants to pay its fair share, but between conflicting numbers and not getting independent documentation of costs, the process has come to a standstill. The issue has been batted back and forth for more than two years.
Dan Hally, Asotin County's E-911 coordinator, told the council he doesn't understand why there's been such a delay. "The documents exist," he said.
Hally said he provided a breakdown of the costs to the county's chief financial officer, Kelly Dougherty, and she asked for some clarifications. "My goal is to have those numbers to her by Friday."
Police Chief Bill Derbonne said the city keeps complete records of all of its expenses, including bills, receipts, purchase orders and other documents. If a question arose about costs, it would be easy to obtain an answer, he said.
Hally said there's a lot involved with dispatch, including Whitcom, mapping, radio infrastructure and maintenance. He told the council he has boxes of information related to dispatch in his office.
Richards said the city doesn't want any more explanations. The public records requests were a last resort because the county has not produced any proof of how it arrived at the numbers, she said.
Hally told the council he sent an email to the Asotin County commissioners earlier that day with a recommendation to base Asotin's portion of the dispatch tab on call volume, which is easy to document. He also wants to set up a regional committee with representatives from each entity to oversee dispatch.
The city plans to send a letter to the commissioners saying until the requested information is provided, Asotin is not pursuing this any more, Richards said.
In other city business:
-- The council is exploring what it would cost to reduce the curb islands in the downtown area of Second Street. The concrete islands have posed problems for motorists, especially if larger vehicles, buses or trailers are involved, city officials said.
"Right now they stick out too damn far," said Councilor Joe Appleton.
The council has a general agreement to modify at least two of the curb islands and possibly more. The city engineer agreed to mark the islands with round-off options and provide more information on how the project could be completed.
-- City leaders authorized a study of whether cultural resources exist in an area that will be disturbed during a construction project. The study is required before the next phase of the Second Street improvement project can be completed.
Sandaine may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 848-2264.
Copyright 2012 - Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
