Dispatch center directors to create operational board

The Western Missouri 911 Dispatch Center board of directors decided a week ago, to nominate members chosen from local responding agencies to an operational board .

City Manager JD Kehrman, Police Chief Graham Burnley and Sheriff Jason Mosher -- members of the board of directors -- were joined by Deputy Shayne Simmons, acting as proxy for Presiding Commissioner Bonnie McCord, at the meeting.

The purpose of the operational board will be to advise the director and board of directors on the services received from the center. Members from the city police, sheriff's office, fire department, ambulance district and rural fire departments can all nominate members who can meet with the director and "resolve issues quickly," said Nevada Police Chief Graham Burnley.

Burnley said the board was on its "way to doing something positive with this operational board." Burnley had already been in contact with some of the center's customers and they seemed "very interested" in the idea.

By the next 911 board meeting, there should be enough potential members nominated to formalize the new board.

The question was brought up about the different nature and interests of the members' organizations. Burnley said that there were a lot of ideas bounced around whenever a group of first responders were in the same room, so it may be necessary for the new board to be broken into subcommittees determined by career field.

In other business, the board voted unanimously to authorize acting director Tonia Davis to pay recurring invoices. Davis can now pay regular bi-weekly, monthly or quarterly bills without prior board approval. Those recurring bills range from a bi-weekly payroll of about $10,637.85 to a monthly Met Life insurance bill of $59.21 to a quarterly electronics maintenance bill of $2,586. All of the amounts were approved during the normal budget process.

Davis told the board during her report she had been working with former director April Tarrant on some of the budget issues and they had made good progress. Even with the progress, however, "there's still not enough income in there even with an amended budget."

Davis will continue to work on the budget to streamline operations and reduce costs.

The board approved the purchase of a new server for the computer aided dispatch system. There was little debate whether to purchase a refurbished unit or a new one -- the new unit was about $400.

The board also approved $1,166 to replace a computer that had failed. Burnley said he thought it was imperative to purchase both of the mission critical items.

The board also authorized Davis to fill out a power of attorney form needed by the Missouri Department of Revenue. Davis said she had received a letter from the department stating the center had not paid any withholding tax for 2010 or 2011. Davis discovered the tax Identifica-tion number was different from the number that had been used. Davis contacted the Department of Revenue, and the error was found. but Davis needs the power of attorney form to discuss possible center issues with the Revenue Department.