Published March 4, 2010

Trustees vote to close dispatch center, consolidate fire services

By Christine Cuthbert
ccuthbert@thehinsdalean.com

   In front of an audience filled with Hinsdale firefighters Tuesday night, village trustees approved an agreement to share services with Clarendon Hills and close Hinsdale’s dispatch center to use an outside service provider.
   “Everyone up here is concerned about public safety, but if there’s a way to obtain our objective of public safety more efficiently, as stewards of the village’s finances, it’s not a trade off,” Trustee Doug Geoga said.
   Prior to making its decision on both matters, the board heard from members of the Hinsdale Fire Department, Clarendon Hills police and fire chiefs Patrick Anderson and Brian Leahy and Hinsdale police and fire chiefs Brad Bloom and Mike Kelly.
   The first agreement will close Hinsdale’s dispatch center tentatively by the end of April and will outsource the service to Southwest Central Dispatch Center in Palos Heights.
   Using the dispatch center will put Hinsdale on the same radio frequency as Clarendon Hills, Burr Ridge and Willowbrook and allow for emergency calls to come in simultaneously to both stations.
   Currently Hinsdale’s dispatch center has two operators staffed during peak hours and one on the weekends and early morning hours. SWCD has two employees constantly staffed to a dedicated fire desk and a supervisor on the clock at all times, which means a faster response time when multiple calls come in at once, Bloom said.
   “It’s an advantage to us to have a dedicated fire desk,” Bloom said. “You need two operators on duty for emergency medical dispatch. (They can also give) pre-arrival instructions for someone who is awaiting medical attention. This could mean instructions for CPR or how to deliver a baby. That can’t be done if we only have one operator on duty.”
   Part of the agreement includes keeping one full- and two part-time employees on staff in the Hinsdale Police Department to handle clerk and records duties as well as questions from residents. They will work from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Anyone who comes to the police department when the lobby is closed can pick up a phone receiver outside the building and be immediately connected to a 911 dispatcher.
   “I want you as a board to go into this decision with all the pluses and all the minuses,” Bloom said.
   Currently the Hinsdale dispatch center, which employs six, costs the village $512,000 annually to operate. The agreement approved by trustees included discount incentives that would give the village a net savings of $162,000 in the first year, $198,000 in the second and $123,000 annually after that. 
   The SWCD board was expected to vote on the agreement Wednesday night after The Hinsdalean’s deadline.
   Trustees Cindy Williams and Bob Schultz voted against closing the dispatch center, citing the need to go through the budget process prior to making personnel cuts.
   “We need to do a prioritization process and we need to determine when we do the budget as a whole which items we need to cut,” Williams said.
   Trustee Laura LaPlaca was in favor of the agreement.
   “This should not be looked upon as just a cost-savings measure,” she said. “No matter how much money you have, you should always be looking for efficiencies. We should always be working toward the future. As Chief Bloom told us, in five years no one will have their own dispatch center.”
   Schultz and Williams also were the only opposing votes to a shared services agreement between the Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills fire departments.
   Village President Tom Cauley called the agreement “skeletal” and a first step in the two villages working together.
   “Someone made a comment that there’s a hidden agenda here,” Cauley said. “That’s not the reason that the agreement with Clarendon Hills is vague. We’re going to move with baby steps on this. This is a good faith effort between the two communities to work together.”
   The main components of the agreement include both departments being on the same radio frequency so that calls come in simultaneously, minimum staffing levels at each station and common rate structures for ambulance billing. Both departments will remain in their own stations. Several aspects of the agreement, including the sharing of vehicles and equipment, will be flushed out at a later time.
   “This agreement is vague in nature,” Kelly said. “Those things are included as areas to continue to have discussions on to guide the two agencies. I don’t think anything has been defined or agreed upon.”
   Prior to a decision by the board, Hinsdale Fire Capt. Tom McCarthy asked the board why an agreement is necessary since both departments already respond to one another’s calls.
   “We presently respond automatically to Clarendon Hills and they respond to us,” he said. “We worry there is another motive to this agreement that we’re not being told about.”

Dispatch consolidation costs, savings

$512,000 — current cost for Hinsdale’s dispatch center, which includes six personnel

$324,000 — SWCD annual cost without discounts. This includes $10,000 per sworn officer (Hinsdale police cost $260,000) and $25 per fire call (Hinsdale fire cost $64,000)

$162,000 — first year’s net savings, including a $120,000 one time cost for equipment and salary and benefits for Hinsdale employees. This includes a 50 percent discount from Southwest Central Dispatch Center.

$198,000 — second year’s net savings, including a 25 percent discount

$123,000 — ongoing annual savings after second year