South Elgin cops, fire district  set to relocate dispatch service

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Updated: March 11, 2012 8:29AM

SOUTH ELGIN — As of May 1, South Elgin residents calling 911 for police, fire or ambulance services will no longer be reaching a dispatcher at village hall.

Instead, police calls will be routed to Kane County Emergency Communications, or KaneComm, the dispatch center run by the Kane County. KaneComm, at 719 S. Batavia Ave., Geneva, will dispatch South Elgin police officers for response.

And emergency calls for the fire protection district likely will be routed to the city of Elgin’s dispatch center at the police department’s Law Enforcement Facility on Douglas Avenue downtown.

The South Elgin Village Board this week approved a contract with KaneComm to take over the police dispatch services.

Currently, South Elgin budgets $500,000 each year for dispatch and 911 call center operations, said Police Chief Chris Merritt. But the dispatch center was facing a $1 million upgrade in the next five or six years.

The five-year-contract with KaneComm will cost the village $264,521 annually for dispatch services, Merritt said. The savings won’t necessarily be 50 percent of current costs, he said, as the village may use the savings to improve other technology in the department.

The South Elgin and Countryside Fire Protection District — a separate taxing entity — has contracted with the village of South Elgin for its dispatching for several years, paying South Elgin $76,900 a year for the service.

However, that contract was set to expire in June, said Fire Chief Joe Cluchey.

Rather than follow the village to KaneComm, the fire district put out its own request for proposals to join with another dispatch center. Although contracts have not yet been signed, the fire district is in talks with Elgin to move dispatch services there, Cluchey said. Elgin’s proposal would cost the fire district $51,000 annually, he said.

“We are still planning to go with the city of Elgin for our service,” Cluchey said this week. “Everyone needs to do what is in the best interest of the organization. It comes down to who has the better fit.”

Elgin City Manager Sean Stegall confirmed that discussions are moving along and added that the city council likely will review the proposed agreement before the end of February.

All parties said residents would not notice any changes in response times or service levels based on moving dispatch centers.

“We are getting rid of a dispatch center” and consolidating services, Merritt said.

“If you live in Pingree Grove, that is what happens now. Hampshire police, Hampshire fire, they go to Kane County now, and there is no diminished services.”

He also asked the South Elgin Village Board this week to approve a part-time dispatcher until the move is completed. Although KaneComm offered the eight dispatchers now working in South Elgin employment at the new center, two of his current dispatchers have resigned to work elsewhere, and one has taken a police officer position in another community. Three of the eight have agreed to work at KaneComm, Merritt said.