LEWISTON – Twin Cities representatives to a county group studying a combined emergency dispatch service got the room they need Wednesday to negotiate.

Now Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett and Auburn police Chief Phil Crowell will meet with the other members of the dispatch group and begin designing a unified response service for police, fire and emergency medical dispatch for all of Androscoggin County.

“There are significant gains to be made through doing this,” Lewiston Councilor Tom Peters said Wednesday during a joint Lewiston-Auburn council meeting. “There are gains in costs, in professionalism, in saving a life and in flexibility.”

Bennett, chairman of the Androscoggin County Dispatch Committee, told councilors he was looking for answers to two questions Wednesday – should there be a single dispatch service for the entire county, and how should such a service be funded. The committee has been studying those questions since 2007.

According to their report, released in July, a single dispatch center would be about $38,000 less expensive each year and would require two fewer full-time dispatch employees than the current systems. Combined, communities now spend about $2.6 million per year for dispatch services. That’s expected to increase since the county is requesting $400,000 in equipment upgrades, adding another $55,000 a year to the budget.

The report came up with three ways to share the savings among the county’s towns and cities – based on property values, population or calls for service.

Rural communities with higher property values fare better if the costs are decided by the number of emergency calls. Communities with their own dispatch services, like Auburn, Lewiston, Lisbon and Livermore Falls, save more if community valuation determines the dispatch costs.

Committee members have been presenting the report to town councils and trustee board since it was released. They’re all scheduled to meet Sept. 10 in Lewiston City Hall to begin picking a final model.

“I think it’s apparent there will have to be some room for discussion,” Bennett said. “Someone is going to have to give something up.”

Peters said Bennett had his full support.

“Go negotiate in good faith, knowing you have carte blanche to reach a consensus,” Peters said.

Other councilors said they’d be willing to make some sacrifices. Both Auburn Councilor Ron Potvin and Lewiston Councilor Larry Poulin said they favored a plan that based costs entirely on the number of calls for emergency service. That model would cost the least for most outlying communities, but would cost Lewiston an additional $126,000 per year.

“We need to get this to a place where it can succeed,” Potvin said. “This is going to depend on these smaller communities. It benefits us, so as a councilor, I will yield to them.”

Poulin said using the per call model seemed more fair.

“Basing the costs on valuation puts it out of control for most communities, but the number of calls can be controlled through better education and law enforcement,” he said.

Lewiston’s Mayor Larry Gilbert and Councilor Denis Theriault said they favored balancing costs. One plan being discussed bases 60 percent of the costs on calls for service and 40 percent on property values. Under that plan, Lewiston’s costs would go down $21,000 and Auburn’s would go down $380,000. Costs for smaller communities would increase – $104,000 for Poland, $108,000 for Sabattus and $75,000 for Turner.

“Where that mix is, whether its 60-40, or 70-30 or something else, I think that’s where the negotiations are going to go,” Bennett said.