07/19/11 Monday morning Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter and County Council member Ward Byers appeared before the Marshall County Commissioners seeking their support in the creation of an ad hock committee to consider centralized dispatch.
Mayor Senter made the recommendation at last week’s County Council meeting after Sheriff Tom Chamberlin presented his plan to the Council. Council members unanimously supported the idea and Byers was asked to present the idea of an ad hoc committee to the Commissioners.
The mayor said, “It’s a matter of study. The ad hoc committee made up of the representatives from the different entities should be involved.”
Byers said, “Everyone should have a voice on the concept and the fee structure.”
Senter suggested having a representative from the Council, Commissioners, and from each of the town boards along with him representing the city. He said the committee would discuss the language used in the agreements, the fee structure and how to move forward with centralized dispatching in the county.
Commissioner Kevin Overmyer asked about the time frame they were looking at for the ad hoc committee. He also noted that everyone is already in the budget process for 2012. He suggested they begin meeting in the near future and have their recommendations by the first of April 2012 giving the different entities time to add funding for centralized dispatch into their 2013 budgets.
Commissioner Overmyer will be the Commissioners representative on the committee and he suggested splitting the various entities between the mayor, council representative and himself to keep the discussions on the “fast track.”
