GLENVILLE County tweaking dispatch plan but town not buying it BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Michael Goot at 395-3105 or mgoot@dailygazette.net.
Glenville still won’t join the countywide dispatch effort, because officials say the town would bear a disproportionate share of the cost. Town Supervisor Chris Koetzle recently informed the Town Board that he met with Schenectady County Legislature Chairwoman Judith Dagostino, D-Rotterdam, and Legislator Tony Jasenski, D-Rotterdam, who have been open to the town’s concerns. The county had made some tweaks to the proposal to get the support of Glenville officials, who have been a long-standing holdout. Among the changes are a weighted voting system for the oversight board that would make decisions regarding the proposed United Communications Center. The weight would be based on relative expenses for dispatching costs from each community and money generated from the fee on 911 cellphone calls. Town officials believe they would bear a disproportionate share of the cost under the “maintenance of effort” formula, which takes what the municipalities spent on dispatching in 2009 and projects that going forward. County officials stressed that the cost of providing dispatch services under the UCC would be about $100,000 less than Glenville’s 2009 dispatch cost of nearly $800,000. However, Koetzle said he is still not confident that the county’s numbers will be accurate. .......................>>>>............................>>>>...........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01401&AppName=1
Koetzle is right on the money! When the talk of 'consolidation' began, it was to cut cost and make a more effective way of government.
This plan will cost Glenville MORE while offering worse services. This is not consolidation, this is passing the buck. Not trusting the County's numbers?! Well there's the smartest move ANY local leader has ever made!!
Glenville is right again. Just like when they stood up to Mercury Morris trying to fleece them for horrible OSM. They need to pay for a never ending blurry recycle ad-no?
Only in Schenectady County is consolidation so inefficient that it costs more. Everything these DEM working together morons do is only to rip off the taxpayers. This is also a good time for HB to clear the air on County consolidation of police services. Does HB still support it like he did when he was sheriff?
If you vote Dem you're also going to be casting a vote to consolidate into a county wide dispatch as supported by Judy Dag and TJ Hooker so the taxpayer had better choose their vote wisely. The three big issues will be new county nursing home, new police mansion, and consolidation of county dispatch in the next election and the question for the taxpayer will be can you afford this.
Is it me or does Glenville have the smartest residents/elected officials in the entire county???
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
GLENVILLE County to redo central dispatch plan System costs to be eyed with Glenville out of mix BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter
County officials are reworking the financial numbers for the proposed countywide dispatch center to assume that Glenville won’t participate. Spokesman Joe McQueen said the county is prepared to move forward on the project without the town, which has raised several concerns about the fairness of the funding model. “We still definitely believe that a central dispatch system will be better than the current fragmented system. There will be increased safety for the residents,” he said. McQueen said the fi nance department is reworking the numbers. “It will obviously not be as great of a savings but there will be savings,” he said. Glenville was projected to save about $105,000 under the arrangement, according to McQueen. However, town officials were concerned that they were bearing a disproportionate share of the cost. McQueen said there has been 18 months of back-and-forth discussion with the town and the county has modified the proposal several times. Yet, it was still not good enough. “Each time we went back with the request that they made, they still said ‘no’ and came back with more,” he said. The two other towns — Rotterdam and Niskayuna, as well as the city of Schenectady, are still on board with the plan, McQueen said. Glenville Supervisor Chris Koetzle said he is disappointed that the county appears to be giving up on working out something with the town. “I don’t know why there’s this mad rush to go ahead without us without concluding our talks,” he said. Koetzle said the county still has a $1 million grant from the Department of State, which it does not have to use until March 2012, so there is no need for this artifi cial deadline. “We made it clear we’re here to try to find a way to make this work and we’re open. We anticipate at the end of this that Glenville would be part of this.” Among some of Glenville’s more recent concerns, according to Koet- zle, is that the county should be using dispatch costs for 2010 — rather than 2009 — to determine each municipality’s share of the cost. He said there have been signifi cant changes in how much municipalities spent on dispatching services and that should be adjusted. Also, Koetzle pointed out there is still no site for the consolidated dispatch center. It is a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario. Koetzle said county officials need to get the advisory committee organized before they can get a site but he would like to know the site before he starts. In addition, Koetzle said he wants the towns to have some protection over rising expenses, given the limitations of the tax cap. Glenville and the county did agree that Glenville should receive a credit for having its dispatch equipment used in the new center. Town officials are also skeptical that the county will be able to decrease the dispatch staffi ng from about 52 to 42 through attrition and do not like the weighted voting system, which would be based on relative expenses for dispatching costs from each community and money generated from the fee on 911 cellphone calls. “This is really dispatch service for the towns and the city. Why would the county get a weighted vote? They’re only acting as a platform.” Koetzle believes that after the grant funding dries up they will be short of funds. ...................>>>>..............................>>>>.......................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00902&AppName=1
looks liek the battle of who gave up first is beginning between county and town., lol. this is an important election year. i see this as becoming a campaign issue., but K is too smart to let that happen without deflecting it back on county.. it should be fun. of course joe mcqueen, it should be noted, is chair of glen dems.
County narrows central dispatch plan County officials adjusting numbers to reflect Glenville exclusion By John Purcell As of Thursday, August 25, 2011
#Glenville — Schenectady County officials are advancing plans for the countywide dispatch center, but Glenville is being left out of the equation.
#After 18 months of discussion between county and Glenville officials, County Spokesman Joe McQueen said the central dispatch plans have to move forward without Glenville in the mix. Negotiations have been ongoing between the town and county, which have hinged on Glenville officials claiming the funding model for the system is unfair. The most recent meeting was around two weeks ago, said McQueen, which was when the county decided a different route needed to be taken.
#“After numerous meetings, the legislators involved felt we were just not going to get anywhere. The feeling was we can’t just keep doing this, and we have to move forward with the plan,” said McQueen. “It is too important an issue. We are talking about increased safety and saving money for the municipalities.”
#The towns of Niskayuna and Rotterdam are already on board for the plan and the City of Schenectady is in the process of formally supporting it, said McQueen. The county received a $1 million grant from the state to implement the new dispatch center, but the process needs to be set in motion before March 2012 to not lose the funding. The plan, according to McQueen, was estimated to save Glenville $105,000 annually.
#Glenville Supervisor Christopher Koetzle said he isn’t convinced the savings would reach the projected figure.
#“The county represents the savings to be a guarantee … but when you ask them to put it in a contract and guarantee it, they refuse to,” said Koetzle. “It is a bit problematic for them to say there is a savings they can’t guarantee and it hasn’t materialized yet.”
#Koetzle said he is also worried about the long-term viability savings of the project.
Glenville, county need to get central dispatch done
The Gazette’s Aug. 22 story [“County to redo central dispatch plan”] indicated that Schenectady County is once again revising the budget for its central dispatch plan because the town of Glenville won’t participate — presumably because the town would shoulder a disproportionate share of the cost. If this initiative fails, Glenville taxpayers will be double-whammied: fi rst, by losing the projected $105,000 town savings realized with consolidation and, second, by paying higher county taxes to cover the additional program costs attributable to the town’s non-participation. State aid won’t cover the entire shortfall. Taxpayers need more — not less — consolidation of services to eliminate redundancy and reduce the escalating cost of government. Central dispatch is but one of many available opportunities to achieve this. I find the infighting unacceptable. After 18 months of bickering and non-discussion, it’s time for Schenectady County and the town of Glenville to act like business people instead of politicians. They need to work together to resolve their differences and give the taxpayers — their constituents — some much-needed relief.
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Glenville is right again. Just like when they stood up to Mercury Morris trying to fleece them for horrible OSM. They need to pay for a never ending blurry recycle ad-no? 
