The Archuleta County Combined Dispatch Board voted to approve purchasing new radio equipment with the dispatch center’s remaining fund balances during its special meeting held on Sept. 18.
The board also continued discussing plans for terminating the current intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between its four user agencies.
During the Sept. 18 meeting, board chair and Pagosa Springs Medical Center (PSMC) Emergency Medical Services Director Jason Webb explained that, with dissolving the IGA, the dispatch center would effectively become a department of the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office.
“We have been trying to work through what does that look like and present it to our boards,” he said, explaining that each user agency would have its own individual IGAs with the ACSO for 911 service.
Webb indicated the plan is to have a transition plan presented for each user agency to review and put in place before then end of the year.
Sheriff Mike Le Roux explained that some of the current equipment at the dispatch center is approaching its end of life in 2028 and 2029.
Interim Communications Director Elizabeth Blizzard noted that what is being replaced is “quite literally the brains of what broadcasts our radios,” explaining that the new equipment will be compliant with federal Next Generation 911 requirements.
She also explained that the equipment will be able to receive internet radio transmissions.
“Basically, our radios and our phones can receive any information that is transmitted in the current generation technology,” she said.
Le Roux explained that there are funds available to be able to purchase the new equipment outright, without having to agree to a financing plan, saving money on interest payments.
He explained that the estimate provided includes the total cost of the new equipment and two years of discounted maintenance at approximately $460,000.
He noted the total cost for only the new equipment was $414,670.
Le Roux also explained that, going forward with terminating the current IGA and implementing individual IGAs for each user agency, each agency’s financial contribution would be tied to its number of calls for service.
He commented that is “the easiest way to do it,” instead of taking a three-year average.
Webb commented that for budgeting purposes in the future, each user agency would have an idea, “call wise” that the ACSO would share in September.
Pagosa Fire Protection District Chief Robert Bertram expressed concern over that, asking if there may be a way to track calls and share numbers for June to July that the user agencies would pay for, noting that “a lot can change in three months.”
Webb commented that the other matter discussed with the PSMC board was splitting cash and capital assets, expressing that his board does not necessarily want to “pull all of that cash out.”
He noted that the dispatch board indicated the assets would be split based on a funding formula.
“Still working together as a group, however the mechanism is different,” he commented.
Archuleta County Finance Director Chad Eaton indicated that the dispatch fund has a sufficient balance to cover the equipment purchase, noting the balance is roughly around $921,000.
As the meeting moved into items to consider, Le Roux motioned to move forward with purchasing the new equipment and two years of maintenance based on the pricing summary from Motorola he presented.
The motion was seconded by Webb and unanimously approved by the board.
Le Roux also discussed the matter of purchasing the new equipment with the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) during a regular work session held on Sept. 23.
He explained that the current equipment serving the dispatch center will become “obsolete” as there is a push for dispatch centers to become compliant with Next Generation 911 standards by 2029.
He explained that the dispatch center’s current equipment, which was purchased in 2021, is about halfway through its life cycle.
clayton@pagosasun.com
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