Chair proposes single-dispatch plan, seeks city and fire-district funds to sustain Alfalfa County 9-1-1

The chair described a plan to move Alfalfa County to a single-dispatch 9-1-1 system and said he has asked the city of Cherokee to contribute $60,000 toward the effort, with fire departments asked to provide $5,000 each.

"I've talked to the city of Cherokee, and they're on the wards for doing a single dispatch of $60,000 deal," the chair said, reporting talks with municipal officials and EMS contacts. He also told the gathering he had spoken with Jim Dykes and Roger Umran about the plan and would convene a meeting of fire chiefs to firm up commitments.

The chair said his proposal calls for each local fire department to make a $5,000 contribution, which he calculated would total about $45,000 from the districts being asked. "What I'm asking from the fire department is $5,000 each. It'll be a total of 45,000," he said.

The plan would also change staffing and budgets at the county level: the chair described staffing two dispatchers and one jailer per shift and cross-training staff to reduce positions elsewhere. He said a staff member named Gary had agreed to remove $118,000 from his budget to offset costs. "Gary is willing to take a 118,000 out of his budget because you won't have to have materials on all time," the chair said.

Speakers emphasized the timeline and commitments required. County staff cautioned the new system would be a multiyear effort: "You do need to keep in mind that we need a new system, and that's a 5 year commitment," a committee member said, noting that procurement and installation could take a year to complete.

The chair said he supported a one-year interlocal contract to start the work and that Buddy Carroll had signaled support. He asked for a schedule that would bring fire chiefs together and requested updated system requirements for the next week.

No formal motion or vote on adopting the single-dispatch plan or any associated agreements is recorded in the transcript. The discussion ended with staff asked to return with updated SRM needs and a plan for engaging city partners and fire chiefs.

Next steps: county staff will prepare updated technical and budget needs and convene the fire chiefs meeting; decisions about formal contracts or budget appropriations were not taken during the recorded segments.