Warrant Article 5

As to  Warrant Article 5:
 
In a joint February meeting a FinCom member asked Town Manager Valente the below question (1).  Her (non) answer taped by Sudbury TV was that the data was in the Capital Improvement Planning Commitee budget and would be in the Warrant.  But upon inspection Warrant Article 5 does not provide the data.  There is no way to tell how much the Town will need to invest to implement the Combined Dispatch plan.  The Capital Budget for Public Safety total: $61,659  (Warrant p. fc-37) breakdown:  Fire Vehicle Replacement car #2 (not related to Dispatch plan):  $30,909; IP Phones and Fire Alarm Receiver $30,750 with note: IP Phones and Fire Alarm monitor Receiver project includes other costs to be funded by sources such as 911 grant monies and various OPERATING Budgets in FY12
 
So, again, I've asked the Town - no response to date -  for answers to this and below questions to prepare for Town meeting
 
(1)  As quoted from Police Dept Town Website back in September:  There will be costs for obtaining, relocating and installing necessary dispatch equipment and software. Preliminary estimates are that these items could be as high as $130,000 or more. Quotes are being obtained at this time, and our experience is that the final costs often exceed the quotes as more information is revealed once a more intensive effort is made to finalize selection and installation, and given laws for purchasing and outside vendors and labor.
 
QUESTION: Has Town received quotes; if so, what is the amount vs the original $130k estimate?
 
(2) Has Town hired the State required Medical Director for Emergency Medical Dispatch  who is responsible for implementing and overseeing a mandatory EMD Quality Assurance program?
What is the state of the QA Program?  (The literature indicates the QA program is a vitally important component of a successful EMD program)
 
(3)  Has the Town hired the proposed additional dispatcher?  If so, at what salary vs original estimate 35k?
 
(4) How many dispatchers, firemen, and policemen have been certified on Emergency Medical Dispatch to date?  What is the projected training schedule?
 
(5) How many have been cross trained (fire dispatchers learn police dispatching; police dispatchers learn fire and medical)?
 
(6) Are there projected delays to state mandated July 1, 2012 implementation?
 
(7) What are costs to renovate police dispatch area to allow for 2 dispatchers?
 
(8)  What about 70 hours that Firemen and 16 plus hours that Policemen formerly used per week to cover Dispatch desk?  (Will the Town be laying off any police or firemen or does the the Town expect Police and Fire OT to be reduced by equivalent hours in at net effect - eg ought we see Public Safety OT costs go down proportionally?)
 
(9)  Finally, and most important, will the Town's new plan be less safe than other potential solutions which the many of the firemen advocate in opposition to the Public Safety Chiefs plan? 

That is, in writing Fire Chief Miles explained the original plan to hire 3 additional dispatchers  was an absolute necessity from a safety standpoint to ensure that the Town would have 2 dispatchers working side by side 24/7 in a consolidated dispatch at the police station. 

Presently, we have 2 dispatchers working 24/7; one at the Police Station handling all incoming 911 calls, but transferring fire and medical related calls to the dispatcher at the Fire Station.  As the Fire Chief explained,  a single dispatcher at the fire station with the added responsibility of implementing the new EMD protocol could easily get overwhelmed, and there was no way he would put his firemen in this potentially unsafe situation.  The solution was a combined dispatch having the 2 dispatchers work side by side.

How then can the Town justify going a to a single dispatcher working 1/3 of the shifts doing triple duty handling police, fire, medical, jail and any other admin tasks?  Granted the overnight shift receives the least calls and outside distractions, but as the Fire Chief originally explained, there is no pattern to calls - they come in unpredictable bunches and the Town could not risk having a single EMD dispatcher even though in the  non-combined scenario favored by many of the Firemen, the Police dispatcher would handle (filter) well over half of the non Fire/Medical calls and transfers the latter to the Fire Dept, just as we do now.
 
Clouding up the matter more, in the warrant the Town Manager incorrectly justifies the combined dispatch principally based on the call transfers between Fire and Police.  Yet both the Fire and Police Chiefs have stated that the Town has used this procedure for over 20 years without a single written complaint or safety ever being compromised.  Our outstanding Police respond to calls (including medical) under 2 minutes and Fire around 4 minutes.  At worst,  the language of the  Police and Fire Chiefs have labeled the transfers as an "inconvenience" and "not optimal", stating the reason we have not combined heretofore is money and space.
 
Ultimately, we must trust the experience of the Chiefs in choosing the best solution, but as citizen legislators Town Meeting members deserve answers to the above questions.