Sheriff, EMS Call New Rate Structure Fair

OURAY – The cost to use Montrose County’s Regional Communication Dispatch Center for emergency 911 calls could soon be going up. Despite the cost increase and a restructured contract, the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Medical Services personnel remain happy with the services they are receiving from the dispatch center located in Montrose.

According to OCEMS Deputy Chief Paramedic Kim Mitchell, the Montrose County dispatch center is in need of more dispatchers to handle emergency calls from surrounding communities, including Telluride and Mountain Village, Log Hill Fire District, Olathe, and Ouray County.

“They are operating sub-minimally in terms of how many people they have and their overtime,” Mitchell said at Monday’s Ouray Board of County Commissioners meeting in Ouray. “Their costs are increasing.”

In response to the rising costs, Susan Byrne, the new communications manager for the dispatch center, has decided to restructure the way each agency is charged. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2010, agency fees will be based on individual use of the dispatch center

“So our fees will be based on the previous year’s calls,” Mitchell said. “That is the way all users will be charged and the amount will be based on their total budget.”

The Ouray County Sheriff’s Office for 2010 is projected to pay for 5 percent of the dispatch center’s total calls, approximately $33,896. This would be an increase from the $21,553 the county paid for service in 2009.

Ouray County EMS is projected to pay for .6 percent of all the calls received by the dispatch center, projected at $4,100 in 2010. This is up from the $3,987 the county paid in 2009.

While the increase in cost is considerable for the county, emergency officials said on Monday that the new way of calculating the cost is a better way to charge users.

“It is a very fair assessment,” Chief Paramedic Norm Rooker said. “They are increasing their staff. At nights, it was just two [dispatchers]. If any jurisdiction had a serious situation going on, it put a serious lag on the system. So they are going in the right direction.”

Ouray County Emergency Planning Coordinator Alan Staehle agreed.

“[Byrne] modified that [contract] in favor of reality and in favor of what people can afford,” Staehle said. “It is simplifying the contract and having the same contract for all users. It is a logical approach and it is a very conservative approach. I think all of us were impressed with that.”

Ouray County Sheriff Dominic “Junior” Mattivi told the commissioners that the dispatch service to his office has been better since Byrne was hired at the dispatch center.

“It has improved a lot since Susan took over down there,” Mattivi said. “We are constantly getting status checks and that is a good thing. It has gotten a lot better.”

No formal decision on the contract was made by the commissioners on Monday, but all were amicable to the restructured fee schedule. They did direct Staehle to investigate any ways the cost of the dispatch services could be lowered by figuring in any fees the county pays to other organizations for emergency services.

“Given the state of our general fund, anything we can do to not tap into the general fund, I would support,” Commissioner Heidi Albritton said.

Other services in the region that would be affected by the fee restructuring include the Ridgway Marshal’s Office, Ouray Fire District and Ridgway Fire District.