By Jeremiah Stettler
The Salt Lake Tribune
SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake County will keep its phone plan with the Valley Emergency Communications Center. But don’t expect its contract with the 911 dispatchers to last long.
County Council members rescinded their pledge Tuesday to peel away from the VECC dispatch center by July unless lingering frustrations over services are fixed. They still are threatening to leave, but they need more time.
Officials complain about response times, dropped calls and the lack of a redundant 911 system if VECC goes down.
But county leaders say they won’t break away unless the Unified Fire Authority goes with them.
The trouble is, the countywide UFA must decide by a unanimous vote whether to defect from VECC - a political process that will extend into summer. Only after that decision will Salt Lake County determine whether to work toward providing its own 911 services.
Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder says his office also needs a year before it can operate the phone center. If the UFA chooses to pull out of VECC, he said the new dispatch center could have a dial tone by July 2009.
“We see this as very viable, and very likely, with the conversation that has been going on,” Winder said.
While County Councilman Joe Hatch supports the split, he said the county’s course change could hurt its credibility.
“This is the second time we have done this,” he said. “At what point in time are we just calling wolf?”
If the County Council puts VECC on notice again, Hatch said he won’t back down.
By bolting from VECC, county officials believe they can reduce the delay in response times caused by dispatchers transferring emergency calls to the Sheriff’s Office or the UFA.
They also could cut operation costs and provide a redundant dispatch system, Winder said.
But VECC Executive Director William Harry warns the shift to a sheriff-operated call center could hurt more than help. He said it could splinter emergency calls and keep police and fire crews from effectively responding to calls that cross community lines.
VECC now dispatches emergency personnel to all communities in the county except Salt Lake City.
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