To meet budget, the 48 E-9-1-1 dispatch centers in Maine must be whittled down to 24 or less
By Anne Gleason
Portland Press Herald (Maine)
Copyright 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Maine State Police in Gray will begin handling police, fire and ambulance calls for 10 York County towns after Jan. 1.
The switch is occurring as part of a statewide consolidation of E-911 call centers. All towns and counties must comply by next October with a state law enacted in 2003 requiring the number of E-911 call centers to drop from 48 to between 16 and 24.
State residents pay for E-911 services through a 50-cent surcharge on their telephone bill. In order to keep the surcharge at 50 cents and cover the cost of replacing six-year-old equipment, the state opted to cut the number of centers in half.
York County’s 11 existing E-911 call centers will soon be reduced to three. The state Public Utilities Commission has already approved Biddeford and York as designated call centers, though the third location remains unknown. Both Sanford and York County have requested call center designation from the PUC. A decision is expected in the next few weeks.
The 10 communities switching to the Regional Communications Center in Gray are Acton, Alfred, Cornish, Lebanon, Limerick, Newfield, North Berwick, Parsonsfield, Shapleigh and Waterboro.
The Gray center also will act as the E-911 center for at least two other York County towns, Dayton and Lyman, though the two towns will keep dispatch services. Wells and Kennebunk also plan to use the Gray E-911 center while retaining regular dispatching functions.
There is a difference between dispatch services and an E-911 call center. The latter has the specialized equipment that answers 911 calls and instantly displays information about where the call originated. A police dispatcher directs information from 911 calls and other calls to police, fire and rescue personnel.
York will eventually act as the call center for Kittery, Eliot, South Berwick, Berwick and Ogunquit. Kittery and South Berwick currently have E-911 call centers that will be required to close under the consolidation. Kittery, which dispatches for Eliot and South Berwick, will continue to provide regular dispatch services.
York has a long-term goal of establishing a regional dispatch center to provide E-911 and dispatch services to the six towns, said Lt. Robert Scamman. Biddeford will take E-911 calls for Kennebunkport and Saco, though both towns will keep their dispatch functions.
Sanford town manager Mark Green also hopes to have a regional dispatch center in his community. He said towns that are not designated call centers but keep their dispatch functions will have to pay a per capita fee to the designated call center, Green said.
The equipment provided by the state for E-911 centers will include new mapping functions and improved technology, said Robert Gasper, technology support manager for the state Emergency Services Communications Bureau. Even with the reduction in call centers, the state’s cost will remain roughly the same with the increased costs of equipment, he said.
Maine State Police Lt. Don Pomelow said most people will likely not notice a difference in service.
“They’re going to get the same service as far as the firetruck or ambulance showing up at their door,” Pomelow said. “It will just be a different person answering the phone.”