SABATTUS — Local calls for help — firefighters, police officers or paramedics — will soon be routed through Lisbon.

Most 911 phone calls made in Sabattus will go first to Androscoggin County Communications in Auburn. But weekend and night calls will move on to Lisbon.

The reason is money and stability, Sabattus Town Manager Andrew Gilmore said.

County leaders have spent at least seven years talking about dispatching. In the end, Sabattus’ selectmen’s patience wore thin.

“This debate has gone on for a very long time,” Gilmore said.

Traditionally, Sabattus’ police dispatching has been done by the county. It’s been a free service for at least 40 years. That was likely to change with the coming year. County commissioners planned to begin charging a fee.

In the new scheme, Lisbon is charging on a per-capita basis, amounting to $6.15 per person in the town, for law enforcement.

The move likely will add about $37,000 to town costs. The deal calls for Lisbon to take over all dispatching except weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., when the town talks to its own police officers.

On the fire-and-rescue side, selectmen plan to end the town’s agreement with United Ambulance and its charges on a per-call basis for a simpler $2.50 per person in town.

Less than ever, the person who receives the initial call for help will not be dispatching police or firefighters.

“Ideally, if money were no object, every municipality or every county would have its own centralized dispatch and (Public Safety Answering Point), but that’s not realistic,” Gilmore said.

In Lisbon, the move is welcome.

“It’s very positive for us,” Town Manager Steve Eldridge said. “We are in the process of upgrading our equipment.”

New consoles are planned. Furniture has been bought and, directly behind the town office, new towers are going up. The town has received a $97,000 grant for new equipment.

Lisbon selectmen also are working on a deal to dispatch for Durham’s fire department.

“We have the space and the skill set,” Eldridge said.

Earlier this year, Lisbon officials lobbied to take over the county’s dispatching work, but county commissioners decided against the move.

Eldridge said the town could not further expand its dispatching without hiring more dispatchers and buying additional equipment.

Sheriff Guy Desjardins said Tuesday that he was saddened by the move.

“It’s disappointing for me because we’ve had a very close relationship with Sabattus,” he said. Desjardins entered law enforcement as a Sabattus police officer in the early 1970s, eventually spending five years as its chief.

“I wish they could have waited and worked something out,” he said. “I’m sure they had the best interests of the community in mind.”

dhartill@sunjournal.com

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