Excerpts from the TimesWeekly.com:
Will County is under pressure to consolidate its six 911 dispatch centers into three by next July, but many details remain unclear. From the locations of the new centers to their funding and what services they will offer, there are still more questions than answers.
According to Steve Rauter, executive director of WESCOM and chairman of the Will County Emergency Telephone System 9-1-1 Board’s long-range planning committee, there are only two certainties: a plan must be submitted to the state by July 2016, and it must be fully implemented by July 2017.
Failure to meet these deadlines could lead to the loss of state funds that the county currently receives through phone service carrier fees, Rauter warned.
“We’re taking this seriously,†he said. “The Illinois State Police are responsible for enforcing the law, and if we don’t comply, we won’t get funded.â€
The largest dispatch center in the county is Joliet, which serves city residents with police and fire calls, while WESCOM in Plainfield handles calls for 19 communities, including Bolingbrook, Wilmington, and Braidwood. Other centers are located in Romeoville, Crete, Frankfort (serving Lincoln-Way communities), and the Will County center, which only handles emergency calls in unincorporated areas and does not dispatch firefighters.
While many believe that Joliet or WESCOM should remain as key hubs, there’s no guarantee that won’t change as serious discussions begin this month, said Will County Undersheriff Bob Contro, who represents the sheriff’s office on the 9-1-1 board.
One potential location for a new center could be part of the sheriff’s new campus on Laraway Road, which is set to start construction next year. However, timing is critical, as the design phase must begin before the end of the year, Contro noted.
“Right now, everything is on the table,†he said.
The consolidation mandate was signed into law earlier this spring by the governor, aiming to reduce the number of 911 centers across Illinois. The goal is to cut down response times by minimizing call transfers between centers during emergencies.
Rauter mentioned that the long-term vision is a statewide consolidated system. The state plans to hire a consultant to help move toward this goal, though financial challenges remain, especially since Illinois has redirected 911 funds to address the budget shortfall, limiting access to federal grants.
It's also unclear how much state funding will be available for counties to complete the consolidation, particularly since nine counties still lack 911 service entirely. This will depend on a newly appointed state board, expected to be formed by the end of the month, which will define the requirements for each county’s plan due by July 2016.
If Joliet and WESCOM are selected as two of the three centers, the remaining area would be covered by just one. Ideally, that center could be part of the new law enforcement campus, according to County Board member Denise Winfrey, who sits on the capital improvements committee.
The county might even choose to stop handling dispatching altogether and transfer those responsibilities to a new center elsewhere, Rauter added.
Beyond that, there are many other factors to consider—such as which communities will be served, whether Joliet and WESCOM will take on more towns, what equipment will be needed, and how costs will be distributed among the communities.
Typically, costs are based on the volume of calls a town makes, with smaller towns paying less. But Rauter raised the question: Would communities needing a new center pay more than WESCOM communities, which helped fund a new center just three years ago?
Previous posts about issues with the 911 system in Will County are HERE and HERE.
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