CITY HALL Following concerns about service quality and slower response time with the new dispatch center, the Santa Monica Fire Department will begin evaluating alternatives to possibly make another switch.
The City Council tonight will consider approving a $95,000 study that will evaluate different fire dispatching and communication service options. The expenditure is part of an extensive $2.9 million spending package that the council is expected to approve in its first meeting since July.
Response time has been a concern since the SMFD contracted with the Los Angeles Fire Department Regional Dispatch Center in January 2007 to handle all 911 calls, a move that was expected to expand the capability to address emergency situations in Santa Monica where the department in the (Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures appearing on upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agendas. Consent agenda items are routinely passed by the City Council with little or no discussion from elected officials or the public. However, many of the items have been part of public discussion in the past.) past only had one dispatcher per 12-hour shift.
The old center handled about 11,000 incidents per year — or 30 a day — and operated 20-year-old equipment that frequently failed, fire officials said.
“It became increasingly difficult to acquire replacement parts for necessary equipment repair,” according to a staff report.
The partnership with Los Angeles came after local officials spent nearly two years evaluating nine different options to enhance dispatch services, such as increasing staffing at the local Communications Center and creating a joint center with Beverly Hills and Culver City fire departments.
While the new center has alleviated some of the burdens placed on the solo dispatch officer, it created concerns for its slower response time and in the accuracy of the emergency situations which were relayed to the SMFD, the latter of which was in the process of being corrected.
GeoComm, a public safety consultant in Minnesota, will be called upon to perform a study and make recommendations on the best dispatching option. The plan is due to the department by Nov. 30.
The council is also expected to approve an approximately $117,000 contract with Gensler Architects to locate the new site for a public safety storage facility. The contract includes a feasibility study comparing different city-owned properties and public outreach.
The new facility will store emergency response and training vehicles as well as disaster supplies and other equipment.
Both the police and fire departments currently store their reserve emergency and training vehicles outside, which requires that all of their equipment be removed and placed indoors.
“The process of returning the equipment onto the vehicle impedes the responsiveness of the vehicle and staff to emergency calls,” the report stated.
The same firm will also be asked to complete a $220,000 space needs analysis for City Hall.
The lack of space has long been an issue for city departments. City Hall currently leases more than 51,000 square feet in 10 different locations, spending more than $2.2 million annually.
“The proposed administrative space needs analysis will examine the current organizational structure, current working relationships as well as current space opportunities and realities,” the report stated.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 16, 2008. Read the original PDF.