Algood city officials now know what it may cost to operate their own dispatching service.
Police Deputy Chief Bryant Swallows presented four different plans during Monday’s work session that would be available to the city.
“What this would do… It would provide 24/7 coverage of all the city services to the citizens,” Swallows said. “We’re talking sanitation, public works, water, utilities… if the city provides it as a service, it would give access to that 24/7, seven days a week, all year long.”
Dispatching ‘Plan A’ would be the most expensive of the four proposals at just over $418,000. Swallows said the plan would hire six new employees and include a city-wide surveillance system.
“You get five employees for dispatch, and you get a citywide IT person there,” Swallows said. “As you guys have heard [City Administrator Keith Morrison] talk, as the city grows and progresses, the need for that increases and increases. And with adding dispatch to the city, the technology package that comes along with it is pretty extensive.”
Plan B would include the five dispatchers but not the proposed IT employee. That proposal would cost over $341,000, while Plan C would cost $336,000 without the surveillance system.
“All of these are 24/7 operations except for the very last plan, Plan D. The other plans are just different variations on the first plan,” Swallows said. “I cut the IT person from some of the plans, but you still have five dispatchers. From what we’ve gathered, five is pretty much the minimum. You could go with some part-time employees, but it makes it a little more difficult to operate with.”
Plan D is considered the ‘bare minimum’ according to Swallows, having the five dispatchers work Monday through Friday while keeping the proposed surveillance system. That option would cost the city just under $121,000.
