City wants out of dispatch

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: February 13, 2010 12:00 PM

Pressure is being placed on its regional partners to let the City of Vernon out of an emergency response program. Council is writing the North Okanagan Regional District and all of the local municipalities for permission to leave the fire dispatch service. “We need to do this for our own purposes and liabilities,” said Mayor Wayne Lippert. Lippert says the current regional function — which is contracted out to the city to provide — does not meet technological standards for large cities. “We need to go through these upgrades,” he said. Council has previously been told by staff that much of the existing equipment, including radios, are 15 to 20 years old and the lack of reliability creates a public safety risk. If the city establishes its own dispatch function, it’s hoped the other North Okanagan communities will participate through a fee for service. “The members around the NORD table are really looking at this,” said Coun. Patrick Nicol. Lippert believes that a city function would be enhanced while not increasing costs for the other communities. But he says they can consider other service options to meet the needs of their jurisdictions. “They’re not beholding to the City of Vernon. This gives them something to look at so they can consider options,” he said. The city wants to hear back from the other jurisdictions by Feb. 28 and it hopes to withdraw from the regional dispatch function by Dec. 31.