Fort Frances council gave the nod Monday night to switch from Riverside Health Care Facilities, Inc. to the Ontario Provincial Police for the district’s 9-1-1 call answer service.
This change in providers is expected to save the “9-1-1 Partners”—a partnership of organized areas, as well as Halkirk and Couchiching, Northwest Bay, and Manitou Rapids First Nations—more than $17,000 a year, according to a joint report from Community Services manager George Bell and Fire Chief Steve Richardson, who chairs 9-1-1 Partners.
The contract for 9-1-1 call answer service between Riverside and the town dates back to 1996, with partners being invoiced annually by the town for their share of the associated costs.
This contract, currently costing the partners a total of $27,500 per year, expires Dec. 31, 2004.
A request for proposals for call-taking services was distributed to four known providers (Riverside, Dryden Police Service, the OPP, and Northern Communications), with all four submitting proposals in response.
On Sept. 30, the 9-1-1 Partners board met and reviewed the proposals, and recommended the contract be awarded to the OPP.
The OPP contract—a two-year deal—is based on a per capita rate of $0.561. The total annual cost, based on the population figure of 18,045 for the areas involved, will be $10,123.25 per year.
The town’s share will be $4,644 per year. With Riverside, its share of the costs has been $13,579.70.
Northern Communications was the lowest bidder for this contract at $0.51 per capita (plus GST), while the Dryden Police Service would have charged $1.20 per capita.
Going with Riverside would cost $1.67 per capita (or $27,500 a year).
But the 9-1-1 Partners board recommended awarding the contract to the OPP over Northern Communications because they offered “a more secure package”
“All call-takers are trained emergency dispatchers, which allows for a higher degree of knowledge and professionalism when call-taking,” read the report from Bell and Chief Richardson.
“The OPP have an extensive client list within the province with whom they are the 9-1-1 call answer centre,” it added.
“The primary OPP call answer centre is located in North Bay, with the back-up located in Orillia,” the report added. “Both centres have redundant back-up systems.
“In the event of a natural or man-made disaster, the likelihood of both centres being affected is almost non-existent.”
As well, 9-1-1 Partners currently is responsible for all the equipment maintenance and capital replacement cots of associated equipment, and annual costs are not always fixed.
This isn’t a liability under the OPP contract.
Council approved the report and authorized the OPP be the new 9-1-1 call answer providers, and further authorized Chief Richardson to finalize a contract with the OPP for this service.
This contract will be come back to council for final approval.
Riverside CEO Wayne Woods could not be reached for comment prior to press time.
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
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