SUMMIT COUNTY, OHIO—On Thursday, February 17, County Executive Ilene Shapiro, Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Walters, Fairlawn Mayor William Roth, Stow Mayor John Pribonic and Tallmadge Law Director Megan Raber, representing Mayor David Kline, signed an agreement to create the Summit County Regional Dispatch Center. Summit County and the cities entered into an intergovernmental agreement creating a Council of Governments (COG) to jointly own and operate the 9-1-1 dispatch center. The City of Akron Mayor Daniel Horrigan was also present at the event, as the city signed an agreement to co-locate its dispatch operations in the new facility. The dispatch center is located in Tallmadge and is set to be operational in 18-24 months. Once up and running, the dispatch center will collectively be the county’s largest PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point), serving 14 communities and over 365,000 residents, and the COG agreement facilitates the addition of other community’s dispatch operations in the future.
“This move fulfills a long-time goal of creating a true technological and geographical consolidation and improvement of dispatch services in Summit County. The new dispatch center will provide long-term savings for the County and the other participating communities, while increasing efficiency and boosting public safety,” said County Executive Shapiro. “I am grateful for the collaboration between the County, Cuyahoga Falls, Fairlawn, Stow, Tallmadge and Akron, and look forward to strengthening this partnership in the years to come.”
‘Today’s signing officially puts into motion a way forward for enhanced public safety and more efficient and effective dispatch service for our residents,” stated Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Walters. “Discussions about forming a consolidated dispatch center began well over a decade ago, and much time, effort, and research has led us to the formation of the Summit County Regional Dispatch Center, and I am proud to join this partnership that will greatly benefit our entire region.”
The consolidation of dispatch centers provides financial benefits and improves public safety in the participating communities. The new regional dispatch center will help save valuable time by eliminating the transfer of 9-1-1 calls between participating jurisdictions and the need to contact agencies for mutual aid, which happens routinely. It also enables the communities to leverage their purchasing power to provide training, quality assurance and supervision resources, as well as ongoing investments in technology, including NextGen 9-1-1, which will allow sending text and video to 9-1-1.
Under the agreement, all existing dispatchers, including the County Sheriff’s dispatch staff, have the option to remain employed as dispatchers under the Council of Governments. Akron’s dispatchers will remain Akron employees. All dispatchers will work in the new state of the art facility and utilize the consolidated computer-aided dispatch software implemented by the County and several other communities in 2019.
The $11 million modern dispatch and services center will be financed by low interest bonds, initially paid by the County, and costs will be shared based on a formula that takes into consideration the number of first responder personnel, vehicles and licenses utilizing the computer-aided dispatch system. The facility will provide a secure location, outfitted for dispatchers to not only take calls, but also to also further their training and maintain fitness. The County recently put the project to bid. Requests for Proposals are due by March 2 and the County expects construction to begin this spring.