ROMEO, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Village of Romeo's Board of Trustees is holding a special meeting tonight to discuss the possible closure of the village's dispatch center, which has served the community since the late 1800s.
Watch Evan Sery's video report:
Romeo Police Chief Kevin Roy says several trustees are pushing for a vote that could outsource the longtime communications center to ComTec, a consolidated dispatch center in Mount Clemens.
Roy said the dispatch center recently received $300,000 in taxpayer-funded equipment and technology.
"In a small community like this, our dispatchers do so much more than dispatch. They are the face the residents see at the front desk, 24/7 365," Roy said.
Roy says he sees no benefit in making the switch.
"I can't think of any positives, I truly can't. We would not see a financial savings significant enough to make a difference in a small town budget, we would lose local control, lose local institutional knowledge about this community, about people and places in this community," Roy said.
After Roy posted a letter about the issue on Facebook Tuesday night, community members responded with overwhelming support for keeping the local dispatch center. Comments included, "having a dispatch center 40 minutes out of your village is not a good idea," and "I think this would be a huge mistake."
Trustee Justin Parker, one of three trustees who called for tonight's special meeting, told me over the phone that outsourcing the dispatch center is not necessarily the priority, but decreasing response times is. Parker says the dispatch center needs some sort of change.
Trustee Nolan Kare, however, believes dismantling the dispatch center would lead to the opposite outcome.
"If we switch our dispatch to Macomb County, I'm sure they do a great job; we get a lesser quality of service just because they're not from Romeo, not a quarter mile away from where the situation is happening," Kare said.
Kare also warned that while the village could save money in the short term, a contract with ComTec could eventually lead to steep prices.
"Once that's a contracted service, it's up to them, if they wanna raise prices, the year after, the year after, we're at their mercy," Kare said.
It is unclear when a final decision will be made.
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