07/05/2005 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Special Council Minutes of 7/Sl2005 yes votes and one no vote. As the legislation was being considered for passage under suspension of the rules, several people came forward to make comments. Duane Limpert asked Council to have the vision to pass CDC. We have an excellent group of dispatchers, and it is true that right now we are the best in the west. But once CDC gets in place, we are not going to have the power to supply our dispatchers with grant monies and the like that a central area will be able to have. We will end up being second best before we know it. That will not be because of the personnel-it will be because of the equipment they have to work with. If we are at the table as part of central dispatch, we can help shape it to be a very useful and instrumental program to tie the whole Westshore together. We have mutual aid more and more coming into our town. Some members of Council want to vote for this, but they're concerned that all the steps are not in place. How can we see to it that all the steps are in place if we are not at the table? We have two years of an abatement, so we can do this at no cost to the city of North Olmsted. We can help lead CDC to the type facility that is going to be beneficial to our residents and all of our neighboring communities. If it doesn't come up to speed, we really didn't lose anything. This is an opportunity that we should not miss. If it doesn't pan out, we haven't lost anything. We're not going to be laying off any dispatchers. There is no reason why we have to transfer our calls over to CDC until we feel comfortable and ready. As a resident, he asks Council to strongly think about this and he hopes for an affirmative vote. • John Dailey, 24277 Vincent Drive, commented that, if he were still on City Council, he would be voting yes on the CDC legislation this evening. As a member of Council, he spoke out repeatedly that we need better ways to deliver government to the people. Cities can no longer continue to do things the way they've always done them. We can't do things alone. Communities will need to start sharing resources. There are only so many tax dollars to go around. As we look at what's coming down from the federal government, we're going to find the dollars trickling down slower and slower. The fact is it's going to be tougher for individual communities to get funds as the government will be looking to get the biggest bang for their buck, which might be helping out three, four, or five communities all at one time. He asked that Council consider CDC tonight as a first step towards regionalizing fire. It's been done in other parts of the county, and he thinks it's going to work here as well. • Becky Burt, a member of the North Olmsted emergency central dispatchers, said they are thoroughly against this. Also, 90% of the fire fighters are against this. She and her co-workers are the people who know how the system runs. She keeps hearing we will not lose anything by doing this, but we will lose $350,000 that we could have used to upgrade our own fire trucks with GPS and our own dispatching equipment that needs repairs and upgrades. The Mayor has said that he wants to do more with less. They do that now. We have, as the Safety Director stated, the best center in western Cuyahoga County. Even if regional dispatch does go through in Westlake, we will still be the best. They have nothing to gain by stating that they are against this. As a matter of fact, all of their jobs would be a lot easier. But for the benefit of this city and its residents, she is begging Council to please not do this. We can better utilize that money in our own capacity. Why should our residents be penalized 3