The city of Bellevue joined Hailey last week when the City Council declined to sign a document being circulated by Blaine County officials that would establish cities' payments for emergency dispatch funding for 2009-10.
Bellevue City Attorney Rick Allington suggested the city sign an abbreviated agreement to make monthly payments, rather then the one offered by the county, which contains language that city officials fear could cause legal problems down the road. The council tabled the issue until its next meeting on Oct. 27, but informally agreed to pay $13,600 over the coming year for the recently consolidated E-911 dispatch service.
The county's proposed agreement was presented by County Commission Chairman Tom Bowman and County Administrator Mike McNees.
McNees and Bowman said they were managing discussions among all five municipalities in the county, and hoped the proposed agreement would provide a framework to move forward. They said the county needs to make hiring decisions at the dispatch center in Hailey based on the funding commitments made by each municipality.
"We have six different customers with six very different demands," McNees said.
After a brief discussion on possible changes to the language in the proposed agreement, Allington concluded, "This is no longer a legal question, it is a political one," implying that further action would be up to the council members to decide.
The proposed agreement outlines terms of service for the county-operated dispatch service and the fees cities will pay for it, for fiscal year 2009. County voters will decide whether to raise dispatch funding permanently by basing it on property tax assessments, through a tax levy override election on Nov. 4. If the override succeeds, cities and the county will still have to pay for the service themselves until that funding is made available in 2010.
Hailey and Bellevue have refused to sign the county's proposed agreement because they claim the language in it singles them out as having failed to make sufficient payments already. Both cities claim their bills for the dispatch service hit them unawares, and that they were not adequately involved in the funding decisions.
Councilman Steve Fairbrother presented a flyer in support of the tax levy override titled "Proposition 2, One Community, One Dispatch, Vote Yes!"
On Monday night the Hailey City Council voted to sign a letter from the mayor stipulating monthly payments of $5,391 to the county for dispatch, beginning in November, so long as the level of dispatch service in Hailey is not reduced.
"Hailey will evaluate whether communication center procedures, protocol and direction to dispatch staff are developed and implemented differently for Hailey than for other jurisdictions," the letter states.
Sun Valley Mayor Wayne Willich remains in support of individual municipalities' paying for dispatch according to their projected emergency call volumes. He has initiated mediation proceedings at the Idaho Emergency Communications Commission, which under state code is responsible for mediating issues such as this.
