Council says Kalispell doesn't understand 911 issues

The Columbia Falls City Council had a strong and unified response to a letter from Kalispell mayor Tammi Fisher about problems with the county’s 911 dispatch center — if Kalispell’s representatives had attended 911 Administrative Board meetings, they would know what’s going on.

“In 18 meetings of the administrative board, Kalispell only sent a representative five times,” city councilor Mike Shepard told the city council at its Aug. 5 meeting. “The board would go on and conduct business without them.”

The 911 Administrative Board has six members — three from Flathead County and one each from Columbia Falls, Kalispell and Whitefish. Shepard is the Columbia Falls representative, and city manager Susan Nicosia is the alternate.

Fisher, who represents Kalispell, sent the Aug. 2 letter on behalf of her city council to Columbia Falls mayor Don Barnhart and Whitefish mayor John Muhlfeld seeking comments before the letter was forwarded to the administrative board.

The letter made seven points, starting with the need to make 911 Dispatch Center fiscal information public and changing the administrative board’s meeting time from 1:15 p.m. on Wednesdays to a more convenient time for people with daytime jobs.

“If you can’t make the meeting, you need to make sure the alternate does,” Shepard responded.

The letter also suggested changing the board’s makeup to an odd number to provide for tie-breaking votes, such as five with two county representatives and one from each city.

Shepard noted that when the board was established, it had dozens of members and needed to be pared down. Six members was the compromise.

The letter noted that city residents pay for the 911 Dispatch Center through a county bond, city and county property taxes, and a tax on phone service. It called for consolidating taxes but not a new levy.

Shepard said a vehicle tax was needed, like other Montana counties have. He also noted that Fisher had supported Flathead County commissioners Pam Holmquist and Gary Krueger, who not only wouldn’t approve a new funding source for the 911 Dispatch Center but also approved a 3.5 percent pay hike for dispatch workers when the administrative board had stuck fast to a 2 percent raise offer.

Shepard also criticized the letter’s suggestion of drafting a “white paper” to compare cost of operations at the dispatch center to level of service.

“A study won’t come up with more money,” he said.

With five directors hired since the consolidated 911 Dispatch Center started, a management study won’t solve anything, he added. He suggested waiting until after a new director was in place in a few more weeks.

“Kalispell doesn’t understand the problem because they have not attended the board meetings,” Shepard said, a point the other Columbia Falls city councilors agreed with.

Mayor Don Barnhart suggested responding to Fisher with an abbreviated version of Shepard’s comments.