BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG – A resolution passed Monday intends to move Ogdensburg’s police dispatch to the county by the end of the year, but St. Lawrence County Emergency Services Director Matt Denner says that’s not a realistic timeframe.

Denner notified the city of such via a lengthy memo sent to the city manager prior to the meeting and had planned to speak at the meeting.

However, City Manager Stephen Jelle said there was not adequate time to get Denner on the agenda.

“SLC Director of Emergency Services, Matt Denner informed me on Monday Sept. 28 at 1:55 p.m. that he would like to speak at the city council meeting,” Jellie said in an email to North Country This Week.

“I told him the agenda was already set and published, however he could certainly speak during public comments. At 2:46 p.m. I received an email from him with his prepared remarks and I notified the Mayor that he would be present and requesting to speak during the first public comment period.

“At 6:08 I received a text from Mr. Denner that he was not going to make it to the meeting because it appeared too busy at city hall. At 6:13 p.m. I received another text from Mr. Denner telling me that if I wanted to give them a copy of his letter, he would be ok with that. I did not have time to do that prior to the meeting beginning at 7 p.m.,” Jellie said.

In April the city passed a resolution setting the goal for the transfer of dispatch services to be completed by Nov. 1, 2020. On Monday the city doubled down on the plan but pushed the deadline to Jan. 1.

“All of the necessary equipment is now in place at the Ogdensburg Police Department to facilitate the switch to E911,” the resolution says.

However, the city manager himself acknowledged this was not true. He said the city is about two-thirds of the way there, but was sure it could be in place by Jan. 1.

“The county is the central repository for all E911 fees imposed on the residents of the City of Ogdensburg and is required under New York State law to provide this service,” the resolution says.

In fact, E911 calls already go to the county dispatch first and are then rerouted to the proper police departments as needed.

“The Ogdensburg City Council hereby formally requests that St. Lawrence County facilitate the orderly transfer of dispatching to the county and provide this service at no additional cost to the taxpayers and 911 fee-payers of the City of Ogdensburg effective Jan. 1 2021,” the resolution says.

Denner in a phone interview Monday said the timeline proposed by the city was unrealistic.

Denner said transferring the services would easily take a year, and he said that would be moving fast. Denner said there are technological issues that need to be addressed including issues with the city police department’s radios.

Denner said additional staffing would be needed at the city’s call volume, similar to the call volume of the county’s sheriff’s department.

He said the county couldn’t simply add the department to the existing frequency. He said licensing issues would also need to be dealt with.

“In closing no one is arguing the fact that it would not be the best move to consolidate Ogdensburg PD dispatch with the county Public Safety Answering Point. The fact that I am raising concern is the timeliness of this move. I felt that a year was pushing it close to achieve, but three months would definitely pose many risks,” Denner said in his memo.

“St. Lawrence County Office of Emergency Services highly recommends to the City of Ogdensburg that we address all of the above concerns prior to consolidating dispatch centers. Abrupt consolidation of dispatch would be detrimental to public safety not only to the residents and visitors of the City of Ogdensburg, but to St. Lawrence County as a whole as well as our law enforcement officers in the field. This consolidation must be carefully planned in order to be successfully executed,” he wrote.

Denner had expected the information to be shared with the council prior to the vote, but Jellie said he did not have time to do so.

At least some of the councilors were unaware the memo existed and Jellie did not mention it had been received during the meeting.

Denner had intended to speak at the meeting as well, but due to the crowd of people who were denied entrance outside the meeting he said he instead asked Jellie to share the letter with council.

During the meeting Jellie acknowledged the timeframe was probably not realistic, but said the resolution was intended to get the county moving on the issue. He said essentially no work had been done by the county so far.

The resolution passed 4-3 with Mayor Jeffrey Skelly, Deputy Mayor John Rishe and councilors Bill Dillabough and Steve Fisher voting affirmative.

Opposed were councilor Dan Skamperle, Nichole Kennedy and Michael Powers. They raised concerns about the timeframe at which the resolution demanded and concerns that the resolution painted an inaccurate picture of the city’s ability to move forward.

Members of the city police and fire department spoke against the measure at the meeting.

The city budget currently includes four dispatch positions, but recommendations from the state advised the council to research potential savings by moving that service to the county. The state also offered funding to help facilitate the endeavor.