Cumberland County North Carolina Commissioners appear to be moving ahead on a new emergency dispatch center. However, that move does include a consolidation with the City of Fayetteville.
Cumberland County recently purchased a building that it plans to renovate for emergency dispatch operations. Both the county and the city presented counter proposals for consolidation that in the end were not acceptable to either side. Those counter proposals appear to have divided the parties further from coming to a mutual agreement to consolidate.
“It appears to me that maybe we have finished with the negotiations,” she said. “I thought we had a win-win with both of us needing space.”
Cumberland County Commissioners’ Chairwoman Jeannette Council
Consolidating the PSAPs has been under discussion by a joint county and city committee as early as 2017. 2016 and 2018 post-hurricane after action reviews identified facilities as a weakness in their emergency operations plans. Consolidation would have improved the efficiency of emergency dispatch operations for the county’s citizens, two-thirds of which are in Fayetteville.
Cumberland County’s next step will be to submit for grant funding to move forward with their project. Submitting a grant proposal that included consolidation would have given more favorable consideration to the proposal. The North Carolina 911 Board will be the deciding factor on Cumberland receiving its project funding.
Related stories: Cumberland County commissioners seek to merge 911 staffs
Links: Cumberland County Emergency Communications Center , City of Fayetteville Communications