Fenton Council Receives Update on $260,427 in 911 Equipment

With three new council members and proposed state legislation to consolidate 911 dispatch centers, Fenton administrators wanted to make sure city council knew the facts. So, Fenton Police Chief Rick Aro gave a presentation at Monday’s work session to bring council up to speed before it acts on $260,427 in bids for new 911 dispatch equipment.

With consultant Max Machuta (MSC Municipal Services Consulting, of Traverse City), bid prices for the equipment came in under the $300,000 estimate, Aro said. There is an estimated $15,000 still budgeted for the electrical work, which Fenton doesn‘t have a bid for yet. The city will re-bid for the electrical.

In addition, Aro proposes using the $40,000 remaining in the $300,000 budget for bringing NG911 i3 — the next generation of 911 — to Fenton. When the state finishes its technology upgrade in an estimated two years, Fenton would be ready to deploy NG911 i3 in its community. Fenton’s 911 center could be among the first in the state to provide NG911 i3, he said.

The next generation of 911 will allow people to contact 911 via cell phone text messaging, photographs, video and streaming video. With upgrades in Genesee County 911, the ability to text 911 could arrive around September, 2012. It’s an important issue for people who are blind, deaf or hearing impaired, Machuta said.

The legislation Rep. Richard LeBlanc (D-Westland) proposes would consolidate 911 centers based on regions. Goals include sharing resources among communities, and keeping costs in line or further reducing them, Machuta said. It would be a virtual consolidation between the regional dispatch centers, so 911 calls from one region could be forwarded to another if the first region experiences a high call volume.

Many support keeping Fenton 911 center; former councilman says no

Meeting attendees voiced support for Fenton’s own 911 dispatch center. Councilman Michael Piacentini said if the city lost its own 911 center, it also would have no way to lock up people.

Being able to lock people up reduces shoplifting in the city, Aro said. Shoplifters don’t return once they find out they will be locked up. And dispatchers monitor the lockup on a screen, watching prisoners who might be trying to hurt themselves or police officers.

Councilwoman Pat Lockwood said it can take two years for proposed legislation to become law. After that, it could take more years to make 911 dispatch changes LeBlanc proposes.

Communities are looking to share public services when this fits their needs, Lockwood said. She supports this, but, “Not every public service is meant to be shared.”

Fenton’s lockup is a real positive for the city, she said. “I think we’re really on the right track with our own 911 system.”

In addition, emergency medical responses in the city are one of the best in the county, Aro said. A reason for this is, Fire Chief Robert Cairnduff wrote the EMS policy in a way that works for Fenton, not all of Genesee County. And the city has made a contract with one ambulance company, which has worked out very well for it.

Fenton operates its 911 center with $150,000 in annual fees it receives, collected by cell phone companies from phone users. There are two full-time dispatchers, and the rest are part-time, Aro said. Dispatchers perform police administrative work when they aren’t dispatching, so if Fenton eliminated their positions, this work would still need to be done. Having police do the administrative work would result in the city paying a much higher salary for it, he said.

Former Councilman Timothy Faricy wrote a Nov. 7 letter saying Fenton should consider joining the Genesee County 911 center instead of making a large investment in a new system. He cited changing technology, staffing concerns and 911 cell phone calls that go into the Genesee County 911 system before being transferred to Fenton’s dispatch center.

Aro said his department is contacting cell phone providers to resolve issues with where 911 cell phone calls made in Fenton are being transferred. Cairnduff said this is a problem all over the state, and it involves which cell phone tower picks up the call.

The bids and funding

The $260,427 in bids are from Moducom (911 system, $57,565 and radio system, $96,450), Blumerich (logging recorder, $15,743 and net clock, $9,500), AWT Dispro (furniture, $31,368), Bren-Mar (facility renovation, $27,500), and M33 Access (grounding, $7,300). The $260,427 also includes an estimated $15,000 for electrical work, which Fenton will seek bids for a second time.
Moducom is based in Southern California and would handle its Fenton 911 dispatch bids through a local distributor, Machuta said. Machuta has worked on several projects with Moducom, which receives many federal contracts.

The lifespan of the new equipment will be seven to 12 years, he said. Aro said Fenton’s current 911 dispatch equipment is 11 years old.

Fenton’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has budgeted for the cost of the 911 equipment, Mayor Sue Osborn said. The city was waiting for bids to arrive.

DDA Director Michael Burns, also assistant city manager, said the DDA board has approved an eight-year lease to purchase agreement for the equipment. It will cost the DDA $40,000 annually, for eight years.

The DDA is funding it, since Fenton’s 911 dispatch center may benefit retail businesses in the city, the majority of which pay taxes to the DDA. Most places in Southeast Michigan don’t jail people for retail fraud or misdemeanors, Burns said. In addition, the police station/dispatch center is within the DDA district, and 911 equipment improvements benefit the community.