Austintown Township to raise dispatch center rates
During a meeting early Tuesday morning, Austintown Township officials said starting this year, they want all 18 safety-service agencies, including Austintown, using their dispatch center to pay roughly $30.00 for each incoming 911 call from their respective communities.
Officials said currently many of these agencies in Mahoning County, like Springfield Township, pay substantially less than that.
The township's administrator tells 21 News that, at this point it is up to the agencies to decide whether to pay up or find another dispatch center.
"We will be working with agencies to address hardships on an individual basis. That's up to them to reach out to us. I'll do my best to work between them and our elected officials to come to some sort of resolution," Mark D'apolito, Austintown Township administrator said.
D'apolito told 21 News that increasing the cost for each community is a necessary step.
However during the meeting, the idea faced some opposition from the fire chief of the Poland Fire District, David "Chip" Comstock. He believes creating one dispatch center for the county would provide lower cost for all departments.
"The risk of people moving away from the existing dispatch centers and the COG [Council of Governments] is a reality," Comstock said adding, "I think if we want to provide the best service to the residents in Mahoning County, we do that through one dispatch center. And I think all of the fire departments and fire chiefs in Mahoning County believe that we're a supporter of consolidation of dispatch centers,"
Township officials said that idea is unrealistic at this point.
The agencies must decide if the increased pay rate is worth it before April 1.