EVERETT — A new proposal suggests that Snohomish County’s two main dispatch centers merge into one entity.
County Council members were briefed on the proposal in late August. The county paid for the study and employs the manager of the local 911 oversight board.
The recently published report says “there are many reasons to move forward with consolidation,” quoting potential savings of up to $2.7 million a year.
Any change would take a couple of years, though, and plenty of political maneuvering. The dispatch centers — SNOPAC, based in Everett, and SNOCOM, in Mountlake Terrace — each have their own governing boards and labor unions.
They serve dozens of police and fire departments, and combined answer more than 725,000 calls to 911 a year.
The county hired the Matrix Consulting Group, of California, paying $67,000 for a three-phase study. The first two pieces, delivered last year, dealt with technical matters. The third part looked at consolidation options.
A similar study about a decade ago also led to a recommendation to consolidate, but that didn’t happen. Ultimately, the decision falls to SNOPAC and SNOCOM, not the county.
The two dispatch centers already are planning to get on the same software system. That project, called New World, is set to go live in October.
Marysville Police Chief Rick Smith and Mill Creek Police Chief Bob Crannell, who both serve on the 911 board, told a County Council committee that a merger is worth talking about.
“We have had this report in hand for quite some time,” Crannell told the council. “This is a big cat to skin. And we’ve all been waiting for the deployment of New World before we move further with that.”
A consolidation would be “a major feat,” Smith said.
“It is incumbent on the boards to come together” and talk, he said.
The study also suggested the two dispatch centers share resources if a merger doesn’t happen, including moving in together. SNOPAC’s location, near Everett Mall, makes more sense for a shared home, with SNOCOM as a backup site in case of a catastrophe, the report says.
SNOPAC and SNOCOM serve nearly every police and fire agency in the county, though the Bothell and Tulalip police departments and the Washington State Patrol have their own dispatch centers.
As an interim step toward merging, the study recommends SNOCOM move into SNOPAC “as soon as practical.” The study suggested arranging team-building exercises to the tune of $20,000.
If a merger happens, the dispatch centers would need fewer managers, technical staff and dispatchers — and therefore fewer jobs.
“There are going to be difficult issues going forward, we all know that,” County Councilman Ken Klein said.
In August, SNOPAC, SNOCOM and the county 911 board all declined to comment on the proposal, saying they need to get together to talk about it first.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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