Fox Lake still looking for CenCom answers

Fox Lake officials said it's time to cut through the red tape and, instead, come up with some hard facts and figures regarding the potential merger of their emergency dispatch center with Round Lake's CenCom.

Trustee Greg Murray said it' s time for a committee of village employees to lay out the options available to them, rather than coming to them with work that is half completed.

"It's time for the committee reviewing this to pick up the phone and call around and get us the information we need to make an informed decision," he said. "And, give it to me on one sheet of paper showing us the options we have. Get the figures and show us what we want to know."

This is just the latest in a long line of delays surrounding a decision trustees have been wrestling with regarding FoxComm, the village's dispatch center.

Officials have been trying to decide whether to merge FoxComm dispatch at 301 S. Route 59 in Fox Lake with neighboring CenCom dispatch in Round Lake Beach.

The debate, which started in July 2007, was only supposed to take two weeks to complete. However, no one knows exactly how much the village will have to pay Round Lake annually for dispatch services should the merger take place,

Early estimations show the village could save between $300,000 and $500,000 annually by merging with CenCom. But, at the same time, the original quote given to Fox Lake was for 13,000 dispatch calls annually, while police officials said the village records about 35,000 annually.

If the contract with CenCom is a pay-per-call situation, the village would rack up a larger debt than the $335,000 originally quoted by CenCom.

Trustee Ed Bender, the head of the board's public safety committee, has been fighting to keep the village's dispatch center in house and contracting out with other agency's to help cover the annual operating cost of the center.

He agreed with Murray and other trustees in that accurate figures need to be presented before the village can make a decision on the future of the center.

However, he accused village officials of predetermining to go for the merger. He also said that all avenues have not been reviewed.

"The committee needs to go down to the Fox Lake dispatch center and see how it works before they start negotiating with CenCom," he said. "They haven't even talked to the director of the center to see what takes place."

Currently, the village pays $1 million to operate the center annually, with about $300,000 of that cost offset by contracts in other towns. Bender said the village was in discussion with three other towns that could reduce that mount significantly over the next two years, but those talks have been put on hold while the merger with CenCom has been discussed.

In addition, Bender said the village of Grayslake, which contracts through FoxComm, could sue the village if the center is merged.

Grayslake officials would not say whether litigation would be filed against Fox Lake should they merge with CenCom.

Trustee Noel Working said he wants the committee to get accurate figures to ensure they are choosing the best possible scenario.

"What are our options, which way should we go and what will it cost," he said. "Talk to everyone and discuss what the options are, then come back to me and we'll make a decision."