By Cody Lowe
The Roanoke Times
ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. — Roanoke County and Vinton are close to merging their 911 emergency dispatch centers, a move that a study committee says would have resulted in more than $215,000 in savings for the localities in the current year’s budget.
The town and county began the study after a July work session, at which both the board of supervisors and the town council agreed to go forward with a formal study. The results were presented during a joint session Tuesday to an enthusiastic reception from both governing bodies.
The plan predicted cost savings in most operational areas, such as maintenance and contractual services. The county would pay 86 percent of the center’s costs and Vinton would pay 14 percent. The combined operation would be housed in the county’s Public Safety Center on Cove Road.
The supervisors will hold a hearing and vote on the plan Dec. 15. Vinton also will hold a public hearing on the proposed merger that night, but the council will not vote until its first meeting in January. On Tuesday, the board of supervisors also approved a plan to increase part-time career staffing for the Read Mountain Fire and Rescue Station on the Roanoke County/Botetourt County border by allocating anticipated increases in ambulance fees the additional staff would collect there.
Declining numbers of volunteers for the station, which is a joint project between the two counties, mean that more than 70 percent of emergency medical service calls and 50 percent of fire calls are transferred to other stations, said Fire and Rescue Chief Richard Burch.
Currently, the station has career staff on hand two weekdays from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. By increasing that coverage to Monday through Friday, the ambulance there will be used more and fees should increase more than enough to cover the additional $69,000 needed to increase the staffing, Burch said.
Copyright 2009 The Roanoke Times
All Rights Reserved