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Home My WebLink About10-09-97-5-d - Resolution - 10/09/1997q so[ution NUMBER: 10-9-97-5-d A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE BUDGET FOR THE BRAZOS COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT {9-1-1}; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the laws of the State of Texas provide for interlocal governmental agreements to benefit the citizens of the State; and, WHEREAS, the voters of Brazos County have approved the establishment of a Brazos County Emergency Communications District 9-1-1 in accordance with State law; and, WHEREAS, the Board of Managers of the District have approved and adopted the Budget for fiscal year 1997-1998; and, WHEREAS, Section 772.309 of the Health and Safety Code requires the approval of the District's budget by the Commissioner's Court of the County located in the District and a majority of the participating jurisdictions in the District; and, WHEREAS, the undersigned authorities have, in public meeting approved the annual budget of the District as submitted to them; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS THAT: The City Council of the City of College Station, Texas hereby approves the annual budget of the District as submitted to them and as provided by law. A copy of the budget is attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and incorporated herein by this reference for all purposes. This Resolution shall be effective immediately upon its adoption and passage. ADOPTED AND PASSED by affirmative vote this 9th day of October, ' o- ~ay~) Lynn Mcllhaney ,/ City Secretaw Connie Hooks APPROVED AS TO FORM: City Attorne~v.~arve~ BRAZOS COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT ANNUAL BUDGET FY1998 BOARD OF MANAGERS R.J. Holmgreen, Chairman Brazos County Bill Fox City of College Station Ron Mayworm, Secretary Volunteer Firefighters Association Mark Caskey City of Bryan Randy Sims Brazos County Lynn Morrision GTE APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF MANAGERS AUGUST 20, 1997 July 1, 1997 I~RAZOS COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICT Board of Managers, BCECD, Participating Entities; Please find attached a copy of the proposed 1997-1998 budget for the Brazos County Emergency Communications District. This budget continues the process we started last year to transfer 9-1-1 personnel to dispatch, after the new PSAP equipment is operational. Since dispatch call volume has increased over 60% in the last 6 years, it has become necessary to add additional personnel. By transferring existing personnel, the overall size of the district staff remains the same. However, these transfers will NOT allow us to have additional dispatch personnel to split the Bryan Police channel 2 and Sheriff's office radio position. Five additional personnel will be required to accomplish this, at a later date. I I I I I I I This proposed budget does include an increase for both Brazos County and the City of Bryan. However, every effort has been made to keep all spending to a minimum. At the request of both Emergency Management Coordinators, all EOC expenses (lease and telephone costs) are included in this budget, for their respective entity. The County Auditor has requested a separate lease contract for the County Emergency Management office space. I am confident that this budget will meet the needs of the District and provide the County and City of Bryan the level of dispatch services that they expect and deserve. As always, if you require any additional information or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Respectfully Submitted, Greg Petrey Executive Director I P.O. BOX 911 · BRYAN, TEXAS 77806 · (409) 779-0911 · FAX 821-3407 Introduction The Brazos County Emergency Communications District was created in 1988 to provide Enhanced 9-1-1 (E911) emergency communications to the citizens of Brazos County. During the planning stage of the neutral Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), discussions were held concerning a combined dispatch center. Even before the District was created, the idea of a combined dispatch center had been entertained by local leaders. Various proposals for this combined operation were presented to City and County staffs. Bryan and Brazos County elected to participate in one of the first combined dispatch centers in Texas. College Station however, elected to remain with a separate Police dispatch center and Fire dispatch center. At that time the dispatchers were also jailers. College Station felt that it would not be feasible for them to move their dispatch center. It should be noted the they have now combined the police and fire dispatch centers and hired additional staff as jailers. Page I Current Dispatch Operations Currently the District maintains a 24 hour dispatch operation for the City of Bryan (Police, Fire and EMS) and Brazos County (Sheriff, 5 Volunteer Fire Departments and First Responders). In 1996 a total of 87,224 calls for service were dispatched from this center. These calls for service have been broken down by jurisdiction and included as Attachment 1. Currently six call-takers, 1.2 positions, are assigned by the District for the purpose of routing 9-1-1 calls. An organizational chart is included as Attachment 2. This position is funded with 9-1-1 service fee revenue. No other 9-1-1 service fee revenue is used for personnel operations of the Dispatch center. Current operating budgets, Attachment 3, are split between 3 cost centers; 911, Bryan, and Brazos County. Dispatch operations are currently split with an 85/15 split. Bryan's share of dispatch operations, based on call volume in Attachment 1 is 85%. Bryan internally splits their share 80/20 with the Police Departments share being 80% and the Fire Department share being 20%. Brazos County's share of Dispatch operations is 15%, as represented in Attachment 1. Current salaries range from a starting trainee rate of $8.00 to a top supervisor rate of $13.57. Total Dispatch personnel costs were $561,093 in the 1996 budget. Administrative and Systems management salaries represent only $18,198 of the dispatch portion of the budget. There are many advantages to a combined center. I have listed a few of them below. Liability -- By virtue of the legislation which allowed for the creation of the District, extensive liability protection exists. By contracting with the District, the City and County enjoy this liability protection. Personnel -- By having a larger pool of "dispatch" employees, time off is much easier to cover. Also, direct personnel costs and problems are buffered from the contracting agencies. Higher level of expertise -- By having primarily one function, communications, we are able to concentrate on providing the highest level of service. P~e2 o Facility - Being housed in the GTE building offers the district and our contracting agencies one of the best built and maintained facilities in town. Some of the advantages are: A. Controlled access with no windows B. Redundant air conditioning units with backup portable unit available. C. The building is built with "honeycomb" construction. It is designed to withstand natural disasters. D. UPS system and generator with 6000 gallons of fuel. GTE also can provide a portable unit if needed. E. No possibility of being isolated from the telephone network. P~e3 Proposed Dispatch operations In 1991, the first full year statistics are available, total call volume for the dispatch center was 55,163 calls for service. That call volume now (1996) is in excess of 87,244 calls for service. It is estimated that over 30,000 9-1-1 calls will be answered in 1997. In addition, it is projected that over 149,996 "non-emergency" calls will be answered in the center. Also, over 59,376 outgoing calls will be placed from the dispatch center. Calls for service, one of the most readily available benchmarks that represent work load, indicates a 60.35% increase in call volume from 1991 to 1996 (see Attachment 4.) Dispatch has changed significantly since we began operations in 1990. Not only has call volume increased, total demand on personnel has escalated significantly. We, as administrators, continually add responsibilities without adding personnel or increasing compensation. In 1990, 18 personnel were assigned to dispatch operations. This represents 3.6 positions. Assuming that this was the correct number of dispatch positions, current staffing should be 30 or 6 positions, based on calls for service. According to information contained in the Department of Justice publication, "The Design and Costing of 9-1-1 Systems," based on "fiat-line" projections, the dispatch center should be staffed with 3 call-takers. The dispatch center also maintains 3 separate "dispatch" positions. One for Bryan Police Primary, one for Bryan Fire/EMS and Volunteer Fire and a position for Bryan Police 2nd channel and Brazos County Sheriffs Department. At the request of both the Police Department and the Sheriffs Department measures must be taken to split this position. In this configuration, four radio' positions are required. With both the radio and call-taker positions, this represents 7 positions to be filled. To cover vacation, holidays, sick leave and training it would require 35 dispatch personnel. Additionally, no consideration has been made for "wild cards" such as bonfire, ice storms, power outages or other major events. While neither the City of Bryan nor Brazos County could tolerate a one year increase of 94% in their dispatch budget, measures must be taken to increase available dispatch personnel. In this years budget I am proposing to continue what was started last year. The transfer of personnel from the 9-1-1 cost center to the dispatch cost center. Once the new 9-I-1 system is cut-over these personnel will be transferred from 9-1-1 to dispatch. This will result in no net growth in district personnel. P~e4 I am also proposing, over the next five years, to continue to evaluate staffing levels to meet the ever increasing needs of the community. I have outline the five year personnel plan below. FY1998 FY1999 FY2000 FY2001 FY2002 Increase dispatch staff by the remainder of 1 position Review dispatch salaries and make appropriate adjustments Increase dispatch staff as needed Increase dispatch staff as needed Increase dispatch staff as needed Telecommunications personnel can no longer be considered clerks. They are electronic detectives which are the field personnel's lifeline. To maintain and increase the level of professionalism within any dispatch operation, positions and compensation must be increased as workload increases. Currently our salaries are approximately $3.00 per hour below our biggest competitor for personnel, College Station. Also, in comparing similar positions within the City of Bryan, dispatch salaries are almost $5.00 per hour below electric dispatch. To secure and maintain valuable personnel we must pay a competitive wage and provide a good working environment. For comparison purposes, the College Station Communications Center handles approximately 40,000 calls each year. Their minimum staffing level is three calltaker/dispatcher and a public safety officer (P$O.) This PSO handles walk in complaints and jail activities. Additionally the PSO acts as a back-up calltaker. To extrapolate this call volume to dispatcher ratio to the Bryan-Brazos County operation would result in 7 calltaker/dispatch positions. As you can see from this report, the Bryan-Brazos County dispatch operation is grossly understaffed. I am personally, professionally and corporately very concerned for both the safety and well being of the dispatch staff and the field personnel. I respectfully request' that every option be explored to increase dispatch staff levels to ensure the safety of all personnel. The proposed FY1998 budget is included as Attachment 5. Page 5 Five Year Capital Plan (9-1-1) Proposed Capital Expenditures Estimated Year-end (FY1997) unencumbered 9-1-1 Capital Reserve Funds 1998 - Phase 1, Cellular location 1999 - Phase 2, Cellular location 2000 - Upgrade University PD & EMS 9-1-1 Equipment 2001 - Mapped ALI 2002 - Cellular/Mapped ALI integration Remaining Reserve Funds Additional Reserve Funds Anticipated Total estimated reserve funds 3 month operating reserve Reserve over (under) funded $600,000 Budgeted $300,000 $120,000 $10~),000 $ 50.000 $ 30,000 $125.000 $155,000 $165.000 ($10,000) P~e6 Five Year Capital Plan (Dispatch) Proposed Capital Expenditures (Funding currently not available) Estimated Year-end (FY1997) unencumbered Dispatch Reserve Funds 1998 - Assist the City and County in securing additional radio frequencies, if available. 1999 - Replace existing Radio Consoles 2000 - Replace existing Voice Logging Recorder 2001 - Replace existing Instant recall recording equipment 2002 - Review existing radio equipment and make appropriate recommendations Remaining Reserve Funds Additional Reserve Funds Anticipated Total estimated reserve funds 3 month operating reserve Reserve over (under) funded $15,000 $ 45,000 $120,000 $ 50,000 ($200,000) $ -0- ($200,000) $200.000 ($400,000) P~e7 1995 Calls for Service Bryan - Brazos County Bryan 75901 ~s County 14269 Police and Fire combined Attachment 1 I , 1996 Calls for Service Bryan - Brazos County I I I I ! I ! I I I I I I I Bryan 71117 I Police and Fire combined I Attachment lA 'azos County 16127 BRAZOS COUNTY 9-1-1 DISTRICT I! II I! I ! I I ! I I I I I I -- Searcy Tollver -CS3 -- Karl Griffin -- Deborah Williams 11-7 - Kathleen Donovan - Charlotte McQutnn - Loretta Weichert - Mellnda Mushinskl -- Mona Martinez -CS3 - Marllyn Toliver - Kimberly Lelghman - Trainee - Richard Mendez -- Tammy Meadors _ Eric Aaron -- Trainee _ Terri Lee -CS3 - Brandy Kovar - Sandra Osburn - Tammy Meadors -- Debbie Oltman -- Brandl Dotson oo/30/07 Attachment 2 I I I I I I I I ! I I Attachment 3 0 J ~ ! I I I II II 0 U 0 o o o o ~ 0 ,-I O O~ ,J~CJ 0 '0 0 kO 0 O ~ ,--I 0 0 0 0 ~J N ~ 0 U I I I I I I I I I 0 0 4-1 ! I I I ! I I I I I I 0 0 O~ 0 Dispatch Calls for Service Thousands lO0 8O 6O 4O 2O 60.35% increase 1991 1996 Police, Fire and EMS combined Attachment 4 gl 0 4.1 'Gl Itl 0 'CI Attachment 5 0 4.1 ~J U ,, O~ O~ ~ 0 ~ ~ 0 ~ ~0~ ~00 mmm~ .p 0 m I ~.1 U 0 0 0 0 ,-4 mom I ~ I o~o I oo 0 U m ~ ~ ~: O ~ ~ · ~ ~ O~ O 0 · 0 0 0 00~ M~ M 0 m ~ -H~ ~ O~M~ 0 0 0 ..~ O ~ J 0 O -~ -,4 O O O O 0 0 O O 0 0 · ~ 0 0 0 O~ 0-~-~ m o I oooooo;o