Lakewood City Council Puts Emergency System on Center Stage

Pierce County residents may get to vote on a new police and fire communication system called South Sound 911, but implementing the system wil require a sales tax hike.

The Law Enforcement Support Agency—Pierce County's public safety communication department since 1974—is outdated and has insufficient capacity to meet present and future demand, Lakewood City Manager Andrew Neiditz told the City Council during a special session meeting Monday. LESA employs approximately 165 personnel in administration, communications, information technology and records management, according to its website.

The ability to communicate between police and fire agencies within most county jurisdictions, Neiditz added, is not a fully attainable system under its current structure and risks system failure in the coming years. LESA provides emergency support to the state's second-largest county and serves cities like Lakewood, Tacoma and University Place.

"Federal requirement changes are on the horizon and our system is not in position to meet those mandates," Neiditz said.

A new, consolidated police and fire dispatch system would introduce a different regional governance model compared to LESA's current Executive Board, he added.

Proposed funding of one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax, subject to county-wide voter approval in November 2011, would provide an estimated $13 million annually, joining the already increased excise tax that provides $2.8 million annually.

There has not been a specific date established if voters approve, Neiditz said, but there would be a carefully-planned transition process to move from the current dispatch system to the new organization. The location of new facilities has also not been determined.

The interlocal agreement between the City of Lakewood, City of Tacoma and Pierce County would establish the distribution of sales tax levy proceeds as required by state law and would create the new regional agency to provide improved public safety support to the community, Neiditz said.

The votes on the interlocal agreement are scheduled for June 6 (Lakewood City Council), June 7 (Tacoma City Council) and June 13 (Pierce County Council).

Lakewood and University Place fire services merged this year as voters approved the creation of West Pierce Fire & Rescue. University Place began contracting with Lakewood, it's larger municipal neighbor to the south, to operate its own municipal court of that city's headquarters. Another measure of consolidation looks to improve system interoperability and to maxmize efficiencies and service to the community, Neiditz said.

There are a number of changes South Sound 911 would bring, such as:

• Two state-of-the-art Public Safety Answering Points instead of six. PSAPs are call centers that assist callers with emergencies for police, firefighter and ambulance services.
• A new, second emergency operations center that is able to back up the county EOS to serve Tacoma and other municipalities
• Upgraded, county-wide radio system to serve public safety needs in the future

The Lakewood City Council was most concerned with putting a tax levy on the November ballot. The capital costs range between $30-40 million. Councilman Michael Brandstetter said that if the November 2011 election was not successful that they should allow the opportunity to have another swing rather than not see it pass in November and lose the interlocal agreement.

If the interlocal agreement passes, it will be placed on the Nov. 8 Primary Election ballot.