Board’s decision places Grundy 911 plan in doubt

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Updated: October 31, 2011 2:38PM

MORRIS — Grundy County’s long-planned consolidated and enhanced 911 center may not become a reality after the decision by a split county board to pass its own intergovernmental agreement, as opposed to the one that has already been adopted by a number of county municipalities and fire districts.

The Republican-led board last week voted 10-7 against the agreement drafted by the 911 Executive Committee whose members are emergency service workers, including Grundy County Sheriff Terry Marketti and Morris Police Chief Brent Dite.

Republican Chris Balkema was not present.

The 10 Republicans then voted for their own version that six Democrats voted against. Democrat Ken Iverson, who had to leave during the meeting, was not present for the second vote.

After the vote, board member Jeremy Ly, a Democrat, said that the new agreement was “not a county version but the current administration version.”

“This (version) was crafted during closed-door meetings and is now being shoved down our throats at the last minute,” Ly said.

Both agreements will combine the current dispatching services of Grundy County and Morris with the county paying almost $1.2 million and Morris paying about $500,000 of all personnel costs for the first three years. The remainder will be divided among other participating entities, including the villages of Minooka, Coal City and Mazon, and the Morris, Mazon and Coal City fire districts.

A number of these parties, including Morris and Coal City, have already approved the 911 committee’s version. The new center was slated to be up and running by December.

The key difference in the county’s version is that it will take the county’s 12 dispatchers out of the more expensive Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Personnel Plan, and will require that they enroll in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). Morris’ dispatchers will continue to participate in IMRF.

The county version also will take the dispatchers out from under the employ of Marketti. All dispatchers will be employees of the Emergency Telephone System Board.

Grundy County’s dispatchers are currently deputized so that they can work as matrons for the sheriff’s department when needed for handling female prisoners.

The 911 committee’s version allows for the county dispatchers to remain as deputies and in SLEP with the provision that future dispatchers not be deputized and only participate in IMRF.

A heated debate took place, with Marketti, Dite and dispatch supervisor Donna Holtan urging the board to vote for the committee’s version. Morris resident Vicky Geiger spoke against what she said was an already over-budget project. Board Chairman Ron Severson, a Republican, defended the new county version.

Marketti said using the dispatchers as matrons is “a savings to the county” and that the county is “guaranteed” $200,000 in savings in the first three years once the consolidated 911 center is operational.

Furthermore, by taking away the SLEP benefits the county would be in violation of the dispatchers’ contracts which could lead to “astronomical” legal fees, he said. Marketti estimated that hiring and training two new female deputies would cost about $190,000 a year.

Severson said that the new agreement is not about politics and does not indicate that the county does not value its dispatchers.

“Nobody has argued against salary,” Severson said. “We do value our dispatchers because they are the highest paid compared to (surrounding) counties.”

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