Councils will discuss dispatch consolidation

Potentially merging Flathead County's four emergency dispatch centers into one will be discussed today at a joint meeting of the Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls city councils, plus the Flathead County commissioners.

Right now, the three cities take their own police-related 911 calls and dispatch their own police officers.

Meanwhile, the Flathead County Sheriff's Office supervises the 911 center that handles sheriff's deputies plus all the fire and ambulance calls in the rural county and the three cities.

This has proven to be a confusing and cumbersome setup. The county's 911 emergency board is exploring consolidating the four dispatch centers into one agency under one roof. The three city councils and the county commissioners will discuss that proposal today.

Also today, the governing bodies will discuss:

. Rewriting the county's emergency operations plan.

. Joint transportation needs and gas tax funding for those needs.

. Growth and environmental issues.

The four governing bodies occasionally meet on the fifth Monday of a month to talk about mutual concerns. Today's meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the Whitefish City Hall.