MECHANIC FALLS – Hoping to head off what it fears will be big increases in the amount county towns pay for emergency dispatch services, the town council here is urging towns to form their own dispatching center, leaving Lewiston and Auburn on their own.

The council sent a letter to the other Androscoggin County towns in opposition to a plan, currently under consideration, calling for consolidation of all emergency dispatch services into a single Androscoggin County 911.

The letter notes that the committee preparing the consolidation plan is looking at preliminary cost estimates that call for a substantial increase in what Mechanic Falls and the other towns would pay for emergency dispatch service.

According to Mechanic Falls Town Manager John Hawley, the consolidation could increase Mechanic Falls’ dispatch service costs from $3,600 to possibly $60,000 a year.

Projections are similar for towns from one end of the county to the other.

Minot’s present contract with the Sheriff’s Department for fire and rescue dispatch costs about $2,000 per year. With the consolidated countywide 911 center it is projected to be $53,000.

Dispatch now costs the town of Leeds about $700 per year; that could go to $47,000. Poland’s annual payments could soar to more than $100,000.

The letter points out that while the funding model being looked at by the committee shows large increases for most small towns, “The cities of Lewiston and Auburn will recognize sizable decreases.”

At the July 30 Minot selectmen’s meeting, Steve French, co-chairman of the 911 dispatch committee, told the board the funding model projected Auburn paying about $460,000 less for dispatch services than it does now and Lewiston seeing a $350,000 annual savings.

The plan to consolidate the four dispatch centers – the 911 Communications Center in Auburn, Sheriff’s Department in Auburn, Lisbon and Livermore Falls – into one is supposed to save money, but as the Mechanic Falls councilors see it, the single center plan is a cost-shifter, not a cost-saver.

Irked by this, Mechanic Falls councilors call upon leaders of the other towns in the county to join in challenging the plan for a single Androscoggin County 911 dispatch center.

“We would like to believe that there are other options, other than just one center. In fact, a study that was provided to us last year had indicated that two centers (were) not only feasible but recommended, as a back-up center will still be needed in the event of a catastrophic event,” the letter says.

Hawley explained that the council favors a plan for two dispatch centers in the county: one serving Lewiston and Auburn, the other serving the county’s 12 towns.

“The dispatch center at the sheriff’s office would have to be updated and expanded to accommodate all the towns, and they are crowded at the Lewiston/Auburn center on Minot Avenue. But given the differences in the level and types of demand made by small towns and big cities, the two-center option might be more cost friendly and fair …”

That’s what the council wants to know,” Hawley said.