Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/825045
4 UCW MAY 17-23, 2017 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER'S PEN STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/EDITOR Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Leslie Pyo leslie@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Long art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Paul Hall BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Keri Dickson keri@upandcomingweekly.com SALES ADMINISTRATOR/ DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com ACCOUNTING Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and infor- mation on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for pub- lication consideration, but assumes no respon- sibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distrib- uted at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Cover art designed with various elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. Combining 911 services has been in the works for years. is week, publisher Bill Bowman yeilds this space to Cumberland County Commissioner Jimmy Keefe. We have often heard the statement, "When the president dials 911, the call is answered at Fort Bragg." But what happens when our citizens throughout the county dial 911? One of local government's core responsibilities is to protect the safety and well-being of its residents; 911 call-taking and dispatch of emergency responders are chief among those responsibilities. To improve emergency communications, while being fiscally responsible, Cumberland County has supported efforts to develop a joint 911 call center with the City of Fayetteville. Following the recommendation of the Public Safety Task Force in 2010, a consolidated call center has been in the county's strategic plan since 2011. As a member of the Fayetteville City Council from 2001-2005, I recall discussions about consolidating 911 services. At that time, there were multiple Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in the county doing the same functions. Almost 10 years ago, three smaller PSAPs (the Sheriff 's Office, Hope Mills and Spring Lake) successfully merged with the larger Cumberland County 911 center. As the county's fire commissioner and a member of the Executive Steering Committee for the Joint 911 Task Force, I feel it is important for the community to hear why the three commissioners on the committee wanted additional time to consider a recommendation that the City run the proposed consolidated center. We received the recommendation for the first time at the April 5 meeting and heard only one justification from the consultant group on why it was leaning toward the City of Fayetteville assuming management of the consolidated 911 center: call volume. e city received more calls than the area outside Fayetteville. e consultants were looking for a consensus to approve the recommendation less than a minute after making their recommendation. I was not prepared to commit the citizens to a $30 million facility within 60 seconds of hearing the idea, without speaking with public safety partners, staff and other commissioners. We were not prepared to vote on moving forward without having further discussion regarding why the county is best suited to operate the center. e county has the unique advantage of formal, established relationships with Cape Fear Valley Health System and the volunteer fire departments. Each county commissioner sits on the health system board of trustees. EMS is a function of Cape Fear Valley Health System and a vital part of providing 911 emergency services in all areas of the county. Cumberland is a unique county. Two-thirds of the population live in one municipality that makes up one-third of the land mass. e other 440-plus square miles are outside the Fayetteville city limits and more than 100,000 residents rely on emergency services from other entities such as Hope Mills, Spring Lake, Fort Bragg and 19 volunteer fire departments in these areas. e county contracts with the 19 volunteer fire departments, independently operated by boards of directors. e county re-established the Public Safety Task Force, which recently held its first meeting, to address the complex issues facing these departments, the 911 center and EMS. Cumberland County government has responsibility for all 325,000 residents living in our county. We have the same responsibility to represent a Fayetteville resident as we do a person living in one of the other eight townships or an unincorporated area. In contrast, the City Council does not have any authority or responsibility to legislate, encumber and mandate any policy or ordinance outside their geographical boundaries. Part of the emphasis for 911 consolidation is the concept of regional services. One of the exciting parts of the Task Force meeting discussions was the possibility of assisting surrounding counties and Fort Bragg with support, if required or requested. ere has been much discussion over the past four months from the 911 Task Force members, city and county staffs and the partner agencies. In speaking with the Sheriff 's Office, county staff and the volunteer fire department representatives, it is clear these agencies would require that they have representation in the decision — making the board of the 911 commission. However, it is my understanding that the proposed model does not allow for this. e grant application to the 911 Committee can be submitted by the deadline without designating the lead agency, and an addendum can be sent later outlining the governance model. I hope we continue to have a constructive dialogue with all the emergency service partners as we work through the details. A decade ago, our equipment was not even talking to each other. We have come a long way, and this process is further along than it has been in the past 20 years. It is much more important for us to get this RIGHT than to do this right now. If we do not, your life or the life of a loved one may depend on it. Combining 911 Services: It's Complicated by COUNTY COMMISSIONER JIMMY KEEFE JIMMY KEEFE, Cumberland County Commissioner. COMMENTS? BILL@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. Fayetteville's Weather Forecast May 18 Partly Cloudy May 19 Partly Cloudy May 20 Mostly Sunny May 21 Mostly Sunny May 22 PM Thunderstorms May 23 PM Thunderstorms THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY HIGH 93 HIGH 94 HIGH 93 HIGH 92 HIGH 90 HIGH 89 LOW 68 LOW 69 LOW 69 LOW 69 LOW 70 LOW 70