LIVERMORE FALLS — Selectmen voted unanimously Monday to support Lisbon’s proposal to provide dispatch services to the towns Androscoggin County dispatch currently services.

Livermore Falls Town Manager Kristal Flagg presented selectmen with a copy of a letter that Greene Town Manager Charles Noonan wrote in support of the Lisbon option.

The initiative is try to make Androscoggin County commissioners make a decision, Flagg said.

The Androscoggin County Commission has been reviewing options and whether to continue to provide the dispatch services for months.

According to Noonan’s letter, the Androscoggin County commissioners “are poised to make a decision on the future of dispatch services provided by the county to a number of communities within the county.”

In addition to dispatching for the various needs of the Androscoggin County Sheriff Department and police departments of Livermore Falls, Mechanic Falls and Sabattus, the county also dispatches fire calls to the towns of Durham, Greene, Livermore, Livermore Falls, Turner, Mechanic Falls and Minot.

“We are hopeful that the commissioners will base their decision on the wishes and interest reflected by the signatory communities of this memo,” Noonan wrote.

There have been several studies undertaken over the years in an attempt to resolve the emergency communications issue. “We believe it fair to say that all involved in this pursuit have concluded that the ultimate goal would be a single dispatch center which provides the best level of service at an affordable and cost effective level,” Noonan said.

County commissioners directed town managers and other personnel from the towns receiving county dispatch services to reach a consensus on the future direction of county dispatch in October 2011, he wrote. Over the course of several meetings the group reviewed and discussed the proposals presented by Lewiston/Auburn 911, the county and the Town of Lisbon, Noonan stated.

All three provide emergency dispatch services to different entities in the county. As presently constituted, all three proposals are less than ideal, because they do not meet the stated goal of a single, cost effective center, the letter states. “However, that being said, we the undersigned believe that the proposal of the Town of Lisbon best meets the current situation of our collective towns,” Noonan wrote.

“While our choice of Lisbon only partially fulfills that goal, it is a reduction from the current three dispatch centers which we feel provides an anticipatory avenue to further discussions with LA 911 to meet the common goal of a single dispatch center,” he wrote.

Lisbon’s facility needs minimal structural reconfiguration and the recent $97,000 grant Lisbon received for communication upgrades reduces the amount necessary to accommodate the overall upgrading of equipment compared to the county’s proposal.

Since this equipment is modular, any changes in future facilities can be made with minimum effort and ownership accountability concerns can be easily maintained.

“The decision to recommend the Lisbon proposal is not motivated by a concern other than to provide our communities with the best, most cost effective dispatching available. There are a number of counties and communities throughout the state who have successfully adopted this model. We think it time to remove the ‘dispatching’ problem from the agenda and move forward with the many other issues confronting Androscoggin County,” Noonan wrote.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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