Fox Lake still mulling future of 911 center

Fox Lake Mayor Cindy Irwin said a consultant will help determine what the village should do with its 911 center.

At the request of trustees, Irwin said she contacted the consultant three weeks ago to review FoxComm -- the village's 911 dispatching center in the basement of the police station at 301 S. Route 59 -- and whether it should remain under village control.

The consultant's report should be completed by the Oct. 9 board meeting.

"We will discuss it when his report is finished," she said. "I agreed to have the consultant look it over, and he is. Now, we are just waiting for his recommendation."

Irwin said she contacted the same consultant used when the dispatch center was built in 2004. The consultant is paid $100 per hour, she said.

The village board has been studying whether FoxComm should merge with the CenCom dispatch center in Round Lake to save money.

In July, Fox Lake officials approved a budget with a general fund deficit of $492,000.

Officials said the 911 center costs about $1.03 million to operate annually. Grayslake pays about $378,000 annually after signing a contract with Fox Lake last year for dispatching services. Fox Lake pays the remaining $655,000.

Trustees on both sides of the issue agree the operating cost is high. However, the debate continues on whether to keep the center for one more year while looking for more clients to share the cost, or merge with CenCom.

Fox Lake trustees were ready to merge earlier this year after CenCom officials said the village would save about $235,000 annually in the deal. The decision was delayed when trustees asked for the consultant's help.

Trustee Ed Bender, head of the village board's public safety committee, strongly opposes the merger.

"We've spent a million bucks on that building, and we have a million dollar contract with Grayslake," he said. "We haven't had enough time to get out there and get clients for FoxComm. It takes time to get something like this going."