PLYMOUTH, Conn. (WTIC) - The town of Plymouth could soon see changes in emergency services, as a proposal to join with Litchfield County Dispatch in Torrington is currently in collective bargaining negotiations.
During a Communications Commission meeting on Monday, members of the public voiced their concerns over the move, which would cost at least a dozen dispatchers their jobs. The proposal, however, notes the move could save the town nearly $250,000.
One of the main concerns includes a distance factor, as there is roughly a 14 mile separation between Plymouth and the Litchfield Dispatch facility. However, Jon Barbagallo, an executive board member with the LCD, says that would not be an issue.
"Several of our customers are more than twice the distance away from our headquarters than Plymouth is," said Barbagallo. "Those municipalities have been with us for years and years and they're quite happy with the service."
He added the role of LCD in the decision has been limited. The town of Plymouth simply came to them asking for a proposal, LCD members answered questions and since then, they have been waiting to see what direction the town will go in.
During the meeting, a statement from Chairman Martin Sandshaw outlined the latest details of the decision and the town's steps moving forward.
That statement read: "Any decision to move the town's dispatching services to LCD requires the town to be respectful of the collective bargaining process. The town is presently in such union negotiations and the parties have agreed that neither of them will publicly comment on these negotiations and so this commission must respect that agreement, so there will be no further updates until that bargaining process is complete."
Meanwhile Eric McCoy, who serves as the Plymouth Clerical, Custodial and Dispatchers Union President, says there are questions regarding cost savings and efficiency that need to be answered before moving forward. He adds that town dispatchers do more than people think.
"There's a lot of clerical things we do, we monitor all of the cameras whether it's a camera here in Town Hall, it's one of the town buildings or it's one of the four schools," said McCoy. "So not only are we sending the appropriate units we're taking a lot of the calls that come in from the public from the front window, from upstairs and it's almost like we are the 4-1-1 informational hub of the Town of Plymouth."
McCoy brought into question the actual "cost savings" because an officer would probably be in charge of monitoring cameras instead of dispatchers, noting the building has never just 'gone dark' and that overtime alone would be problematic enough.
Regardless of the steps moving forward, McCoy says he wants to do what's best for the town, but officials have not made it easy.
"The Union has felt that they (Town Officials/Mayor's Office) have tried to push this through so quickly, that we wouldn't have the opportunity (like tonight) to actually voice our concerns," said McCoy. "I don't think they're hearing the townspeople, that's my biggest concern."
While the collective bargaining process moves forward, others are wondering if this type of move is just another domino to fall in smaller Connecticut communities working to make ends meet in the face of less funding from the state. All of these issues are currently and proactively being discussed, both at the local and regional level for consolidation moving forward.
