Should the Emergency Management Board take over supervision of the Dispatch Center?

Members of the Winneshiek County Emergency Management Association Board say their board should take over supervision of the city/county dispatch center.  Emergency Management Coordinator Sean Snyder and EMA Board member Mike Klimesh spoke with county supervisors Monday about the proposal.

Klimesh says there would be two advantages to having the EMA take over the dispatch center: that there would be a continuity of management by the EMA Board and that $750,000 worth of county equipment in the dispatch center would be more directly supervised.

Klimesh and Snyder say the EMA Board has the authority to levy taxes to pay for having it take over the dispatch center.  But any increase in property tax levies would show up as a county increase, which is why county supervisors asked pointed questions on Monday.

Supervisor Dean Thompson pointed out that the current communications system needs between $1 to $2 million in improvements so its signals can be heard everywhere in the county.  Thompson said it would be more important to tackle this upgrade first.  He suggested the EMA Board could appoint Snyder to supervise the dispatch center without the county assuming the six full-time employees as county employees, but leaving them as city employees.

The discussion ended Monday without any votes on the proposal.  Snyder said he understood that "there are a lot of meeting that still have to happen."