Talks of consolidated dispatch services continue

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Wytheville and Wythe County are continuing negotiations to consolidate dispatch services. Virginia State Police and Bland County have chosen not to participate.
An update on the proposal was presented to Wytheville Town Council at Monday evening’s regular session. For the past couple of years, the four local entities have explored the concept of consolidating their dispatching centers to handle all calls.
Councilman Jackie King, a member of the town’s budget and finance committee, pointed out the idea evolved because of the eve- increasing demand for capability to handle a variety of types of calls and 911 calls. She noted the dispatching centers handle the regular land line 911 calls and now are prepared to handle a variety of cellular 911 calls and the new technology surrounding the voice-over Internet protocol.
“The meetings were very productive until the state started facing certain financial problems,” King told council. “It appeared that the Virginia State Police would not have sufficient funding to proceed with this project.”
It was determined, she said, that if the project were to go forward the three local governing bodies would need to construct the new dispatch center at state police headquarters with the title of the center retained by the state. None of the three localities, King reported, believed this to be in their best interest but decided to continue discussions.
According to her, Wytheville, Wythe and Bland counties were eligible for $800,000 in state grant funds to be used toward the purchase of equipment for a regional consolidation of dispatching continued. Bland County has now opted out of discussions.
“As such, Wythe County and Wytheville have continued these negotiations,” King said, “and we believe that it is in the best interest of the two entities to continue our efforts to consolidate dispatching services. As we mentioned, the technology required in dispatching centers is changing rapidly and obviously it is more cost effective to purchase one set of equipment rather than two that would be needed for continued independent dispatching centers.”
She said the state noted in a conference call last week that it would send out certain parameters that would be associated with the grant funds. The town will have the opportunity to review the information soon, according to her.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .