Money a primary obstacle to plans to revamp 911 system

By JOHN STANG

The Daily Inter Lake

If federal money doesn't materialize, an effort to create a consolidated Flathead County emergency dispatch center might seek a property-tax levy.

That's what Fred Leistiko, chairman of the Flathead County-City 911 Administrative Board, and Kalispell Police Chief Frank Garner, a member of that board, told the Kalispell City Council on Monday.

Right now, Flathead County has four 911 dispatch centers.

Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls each have a 911 center that solely handles police calls within their city limits.

The Flathead County center, supervised by the sheriff's office, handles all fire and emergency calls throughout the county, as well as law enforcement calls in rural areas.

This four-center setup is plagued by coordination problems and mismatching equipment that often is not adequate.

The 911 board wants to merge all emergency dispatch functions into one site under an independent agency to serve the entire county, both inside and outside the cities.

However, prospective sites, equipment, budgets and coordination procedures still have to be tackled.

On Monday, council member Bob Herron suggested that Kalispell's old Wells Fargo building - currently a controversial and over-budget site for a new city hall - be added to the list of prospective sites.

The greatest hurdle is a lack of funding sources to create a consolidated operation.

The 911 board has about $400,000 set aside for this project. However, revenues going to 911 services are smaller than expenses, and this fund is expected to shrink.

The biggest immediate

upgrade planned for the county's 911 functions is a new computer-aided dispatch setup. This would keep better track of emergency calls, which departments should receive which emergency calls, and the locations of fire, ambulance and law enforcement people and vehicles.

This updated network is expected to cost almost $1 million.

U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., is trying to get federal money for the Flathead County system added to an appropriations bill. But he won't be able to do that until probably January 2007.

Some council members noted that Burns - locked in a tight race against Democrat challenger Jon Tester - can't guarantee he will be in the Senate next January.

Garner and Leistiko said if federal appropriations appear out of reach, the property tax route would the next-best option.