Council invites public officials to discuss dispatch
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
RONAN – Two county officials respectively agreed to disagree at the Ronan City Council meeting on Monday, March 7.
The issue concerned separating the Lake County Dispatch service from the sheriff’s office, where it is currently operated, and making it a separate entity governed by a 911 Committee with board members from different emergency response teams across the county.
Lake County Sheriff Don Bell was invited to the council meeting to explain why he disagrees with the separation, and Lake County Commissioner Bill Barron was also at the meeting to talk about why he is supporting the separation.
Sheriff Bell explained that he is against the separation because he has officers working the county around the clock that rely on dispatch for communication, and he would like to continue having input into that relationship.
He also said that separating the service would end up costing the county more in employee costs. Dispatchers currently enter arrest warrants and restraining orders into the system along with emergency calls. If the system were separated, Sheriff Bell said he would need to figure out how to reassign those tasks.
Sheriff Bell said the public elected him to oversee dispatch and he doesn’t believe it’s his place to change that job description.
“I believe it was part of my responsibility when I was elected sheriff,” he said.
Mayor Kim Aipperspach agreed that it could cost more to operate dispatch if it were separated. He also said that he would like the Ronan Police Department to receive the same services as surrounding towns.
“I don’t know if we would get better or worse (service) if it changed,” he said.
Ronan Police Chief Ken Weaver said that his officers don’t have the same access to police reports as other towns in the county. Sheriff Bell said that he would address the problem.
Commissioner Barron talked to Sheriff Bell directly during the meeting and said that he understands his views.
“I would feel exactly the same way,” Barron said if he were in the sheriff’s position, although he added that he felt it was in the county’s best interest to support the separation.
“I respectfully disagree with Don,” he said adding that dispatch would continue to do warrants. “None of that changes. I don’t see any cost change.”
Commissioner Barron said that a separate service would provide long-term leadership instead of the continued change from the elected sheriff’s position.
“I truly believe that it will be more efficient,” he said.
The Ronan City Council isn’t authorized to make decisions on the matter, but Barron sent the council a letter last month asking if they would support or reject the idea in an effort to get input from public officials. He sent many letters out across the county.
Ronan Council members mentioned that they were proponents for the separation if the sheriff wasn’t completely against it.
Commissioner Barron said that public comment on the possible separation was being heard by Lake County Commissioners on Tuesday, April 12, at 10 a.m. in the commissioners’ office in Polson.
In other council news, the board passed a proposal to authorize the Ronan Airport to sign into an engineering agreement and grant application that would allow them to begin looking into expansion plans.
Lake County Joint Airport Board representative Rick Newman said that the project has to go through several phases including a study period, a phase to consider the options, and a design phase.
He added that the airport wasn’t going to need to take private property for the project and that he would soon be taking public comment concerning the expansion.
The council also passed a motion to pass an open container permit during St. Patrick’s Day. Police Chief Weaver said he would sign off on that permit.
