Fayetteville council orders pursuit of neutral integrator, adopts resolution to advance 911 consolidation talks

FAYETTEVILLE — The Fayetteville City Council voted unanimously on a resolution to press ahead with consolidation talks for county and city 911 services, directing city and county managers to jointly seek a neutral integrator and to formalize protections for operations, personnel and funding.

Council members said at a public meeting that they would accept whatever recommendation a jointly selected, state‑supported integrator produces, provided the consultant is independent and any administrative model includes guardrails to protect local operational control. "We would ask the state to pay or reimburse payment made so that that consultant is not committed to whoever hired them," a council speaker said, describing the council's goal of an unbiased selection process.

The resolution follows months of debate over whether the consolidated 911 system would be administered by Cumberland County or led operationally by the City of Fayetteville. City staff described two possible tiers of service and a multi‑year cost‑sharing plan discussed by the subcommittee: a proposed 50/50 cost split for the first two years followed by a shift toward a formula based on vehicle value in later years. Council members warned the city could shoulder a disproportionate share under certain formulas given Fayetteville represents roughly 62% of the county population.

City and county staff briefed the council on technical and operational issues that would affect consolidation. Information‑technology staff said the shared computer‑aided dispatch (CAD) system is hosted and maintained by the county and that replicated city databases are only partially synchronized because of vendor/version mismatches; the vendor has said a non‑budgeted professional services contract and coordinated upgrades across jurisdictions are required to restore full replication. That schedule and cost uncertainty prompted council members to discuss mid‑year budget options to accelerate fixes if necessary.

Public safety leaders told the council that operational policies and procedures, accountability when mistakes occur, and personnel parity are central concerns. "Policy and procedure and accountability — those are the big three things," the police chief said, urging clear protections to avoid service degradation that could affect the city's ISO rating and insurance costs.

Director Jones of the Office of Community Safety told the council the office expects to launch an alternative response model that would triage behavioral health calls routed through 911. Jones said the office has secured a building, positions and partner agreements and warned that unnecessary delays to consolidation or negotiations could impede the planned launch in the coming fiscal cycle.

Council members also pressed for explicit off‑ramps in any agreement if service standards are not met and for joint approval of any third‑party contracting by participating jurisdictions. Several members noted prior consultant studies (including a 2017 report) favored a city‑led operational model and said a new, jointly selected integrator should be able to re‑examine that conclusion.

After the public session, the council moved into a closed session to discuss legal and contract details and later returned to open session to adopt the resolution unanimously; the council said the final text of the resolution would be posted at 2:00 p.m. The council directed staff to work with the county and state partners to identify qualified facilitators within the timeline discussed — contact within 45 days and an initial contract signed about 15 days after selection, with an expected 18–24 month implementation window after engagement.

The resolution does not itself change operational control or staffing; council members emphasized that any transfer of payroll, hiring authority, procurement or service tiers would be subject to a separate interlocal agreement or contract and to negotiated guardrails that preserve service quality and personnel protections. The council also said it will continue to seek clarity on cost allocation, facility needs and vendor‑scheduling realities as the integrator and interlocal negotiations proceed.

The council meeting materials and the resolution text will be released publicly by the city following the meeting.