LONGVIEW — Local police and fire officials say the answer to the Cowlitz County’s emergency dispatch trouble may lie in Clark County’s 911 center.
On Oct. 9, local police and fire chiefs asked the Cowlitz Comm Center’s governing board to study consolidating with the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency. Officials here say CRESA is one of the best-rated 911 centers nationwide for its service of police, fire and other user agencies.
CRESA Director Dave Fuller said a feasibility study would evaluate whether consolidating would improve efficiency and dispatching.
“It’s got to be a win-win for both counties,” Cowlitz County 911 Director Deanna Wells said.
Officials say a large part of the push toward CRESA was because of the difficulty connecting to Kalama’s digital radio system to address agencies’ immediate needs and gaps in coverage.
Cowlitz 2 Fire Chief Dave LaFave said user agencies are frustrated with how little say they have over the running of the Comm Center, even though they help fund it through fees.
“If you had a timeshare condo, would you be a customer or would you be a part-owner? My view is, we’re part-owners,” LaFave said. “If I need something changed to meet the needs of our fire district, I should be able to request it.”
By contrast, Clark County responding agencies are satisfied with CRESA, officials said, and attributed it to its governance model: CRESA is governed by one board of nine agency representatives.
“The governance is one of those things that allows us to be pretty responsive,” Fuller said.
This is not the first time local responding agencies have sought to consolidate 911 centers across county lines. An assessment five years ago explored the idea of creating a regional 911 center that would include Cowlitz, Wahkiakum and Skamania counties, according to officials. And Wells said that even more recently, agencies have discussed merging with CRESA, but the idea “fizzled away.”
The Woodland Fire Department joined CRESA last year as part of fire agencies’ regional consolidation. Woodland Fire Chief Michael Jackson said it was a pragmatic move to join Clark County Fire & Rescue and had nothing to do with Cowlitz County’s 911 troubles.
User agency fees at the county’s Comm Center are determined by call volumes, with Longview agencies having the highest user fees. If those three large agencies move to CRESA, the rest of the users’ will be unable to pick up its share, Kalama Police Chief Randy Gibson said.
“That’s a domino,” Gibson said. “Once it starts falling, other agencies could follow these bigger agencies out the door.”
At the October 911 E-Board meeting, Kelso City Manager Steve Taylor spoke out against the move. He requested a list from agencies about specific concerns that have not been addressed by the county’s Comm Center. He said efforts should be spent on making the current system better.
“Is this really a direction we need to go? Because it’s a major step,” he said. “I have not seen anything articulated from the complaints against the system beyond what’s anecdotal. What I have seen is a response from the 911 center. It may not provide all the answers that the users want it to here, but the complaints and issues being put forward are being addressed. … I think we’re already on a patch to fix a lot of the issues.”
Police and fire officials, however, were unanimous in approaching Clark County. And Wells agrees that consolidation with CRESA should be evaluated again. While she said much of the talk with CRESA has made dispatchers unsure of their future, it’s worth exploring.
“I think first and foremost, we should do what’s best for our community and our taxpayers,” Wells said. “If a consolidation was the best thing for our community, if it was more efficient … and that’s what this community wants, then I think we’re negligent not to look at that.”
