While the budget stalemate in the State of Illinois drags on, there is one agency that is consolidating and moving toward increased efficiency.
It is the 911 call and emergency services system.
On April 7, the Village of Huntley took a major step toward consolidating and improving 911 and emergency services to local citizens, including Sun City. The village board committee of the whole gave consensus approval to a resolution to enter into an agency communications agreement with Southeast Emergency Communications (SEECOM). The resolution was expected to be approved by the board at its regular meeting on April 14. The Huntley Fire Department joined the SEECOM emergency communications system last year, and this action by the police department will place all 911 and emergency communications services in one place for Huntley residents.
After a one-year transition period, the new system is planned to go into effect on July 1, 2017.
Early last year, the state’s General Assembly approved an act mandating the consolidation of 911 Public Safety Access Points (PSAPs) throughout the state The act mandates that each county reduce the number of PSAPs by 50% or down to 2, which ever number is larger. This process must be completed by next July, according to a police department report.
“McHenry County had six PSAPs, which meant that the total number needed to be reduced to three,” said Huntley Police Chief Robert Porter. “On January 21 of this year, the McHenry County Emergency Telephone System Board voted to close PSAPs located in Lake in the Hills, Harvard, and Woodstock. This left PSAP locations at the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department, the McHenry City Police Department, and SEECOM.”
Huntley police officials and village staff members met with representatives of these three agencies. Porter said four criteria were used to select one of them for Huntley: permanent and transition costs, location of the agency, types of services provided, including fractured (split between police and fire) dispatching, and efficiency of mutual aid.
“SEECOM provides a lower cost per call and base rate than the other two agencies, and their location in Crystal Lake is closer than the others to Huntley,” Porter said. “This agreement will eliminate the current fractured method of police and fire services and reduce the number of transfers of 911 calls between our public safety agencies,” said Porter. “Essentially, all 911 calls and emergency services for our village will be handled by the same dispatch agency. Contracting with SEECOM will also provide for more efficient mutual aid as SEECOM currently dispatches for several agencies that either border or are close to the village of Huntley.”
These places are Lake in the Hills, Algonquin, and Crystal Lake, he said.
All of Sun City will be in the new SEECOM service area, even though Sun City is located in both McHenry and Kane counties, according to Todd Fulton, deputy Huntley police chief.
“It will cost more money, and this is a good example of how it costs more to make things better,” he said. “We are spending about $155,000 annually now for emergency services, and that cost will more than double to $334,895 in year one of our five-year agreement with SEECOM, starting next year. The police report to the village board says that the dispatch fees will increase by about $11,000 annually, through year five. We started looking into this issue soon after the state act was passed last year,” said Fulton. “Our efforts are part of a statement movement for consolidation and upgrading emergency communications that is taking place now. The state act also created more funding for these services, which is provided by the wireless communication surcharge that residents pay on their telecommunications bills.”
