Staff Writer

 Police and fire calls from Old Orchard Beach will soon be answered by dispatchers in Sanford.

Old Orchard Beach town councilors on Feb. 1 unanimously approved the plan to consolidate dispatch services with Sanford Regional Communications Center. Councilor Shawn O’Neill was absent.

 Councilors who support the plan say it will save the town money and ensure the latest technology is used to answer calls.

Town Manager Jack Turcotte said town officials have considered the possibility of consolidating emergency and non-emergency dispatch services since last year. Fire and police officials supported the plan.

Consolidating will save the town $135,000 annually. The town will pay a one-time fee of $124,000 to set up needed technology, then pay $300,000 annually for dispatch services. The arrangement includes a controlled increase of 3 percent for the next five years.

Turcotte said the town will now pay $8,700 for a physical engineering study to ensure proper technology is in place for the switch. He expects Sanford to take over dispatch calls by April.

Sanford Regional Communications Center answers all 911 calls from Acton, Alfred, Arundel, Kennebunk, Lebanon, Limerick, Newfield, North Berwick, Sanford, Springvale, Shapleigh and Waterboro. The center also dispatches police, fire and rescue crews to non-emergency calls.

Council Chairman Bob Quinn said he supported the plan because it is difficult for a small town to keep up with changes in technology.

“The technology and the next generation technology demands we get into a consolidation situation because of the needs,” he said.

Consolidating also eliminates the town’s current “disjointed” system, Quinn said; some calls are answered in Scarborough and some in Old Orchard Beach. Improving service is important when even seconds “can be a life or death matter,” he said.

“In the interest of public safety, this is a good changeover,” he said.

Quinn said he has some concerns about the cost of the plan because Old Orchard Beach is paying more than other towns due to anticipated increases in calls during summer. The town will have the opportunity to renegotiate rates at the end of the first year of the five-year contract, he said.

Councilor Robin Dayton said she spent many hours during the past year looking at the issue and talking to people from different town departments. She said she ultimately supported consolidation because of current and future technology, delays in answering calls statewide, cost and job offers that will be extended to the town’s dispatchers in Sanford.

“The technology available today has reduced the need for individual, small, localized 911 call takers. The technology today makes it easer for call takers to handle larger regions,” Dayton said.

Dayton said larger dispatch centers are better equipped to keep up with rapid advances in technology. She said it is impractical for Old Orchard Beach to pay $450,000 annually to maintain a dispatch center for three dispatchers. Consolidation also will help answer calls faster, she said.

Dayton said the final reason she supports consolidation is Sanford’s offer to hire dispatchers from Old Orchard Beach.

“This is a tremendous benefit to our current staff and certainly makes the change much more palatable,” she said. “I deeply appreciate the loyalty of our dispatch staff and hope that the assurance of continued work sends a strong message that the administration looked at this issue from all sides,” she said.

Turcotte said the physical engineering study will be done in two to three weeks. He said the study is an important step to ensure everything is in place for handling calls.

“It’s people’s safety so we want to be 100 percent sure,” he said.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.