Against mayor’s advice, council votes to send county a final 911 proposal

Running time 2 hrs 8 mins

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, 10 p.m.  — In special meeting Thursday afternoon, the Bardstown City Council voted 4-2 to make its best and final offer to Nelson Fiscal Court regarding a new joint 911 dispatch agreement.

KSP Communications Supervisor Kevin Woosley, left, and Tony Whobrey answer questions about how the Kentucky State Police would handle 911 calls for Bardstown if the city does not remain part of the joint city-county dispatch center. Click to enlarge.

Tempers flared several times during the discussion of what action to take regarding 911 dispatching with less than 30 days left in the existing agreement and a letter from the E-911 Dispatch Board the city attorney denounced as an ultimatum.

The discussion was preceded by a presentation from Kentucky State Police representatives who explained how KSP’s dispatch would handle 911 calls for the city police and fire departments.

The council — for the first time — had the chance to ask questions about KSP dispatching and get answers directly from KSP personnel.

Councilman Bill Buckman said the issue with dispatching is not all about money, but the quality of the dispatching.

KSP’s equipment and technology have progressed more rapidly than the county dispatch, he said.  KSP’s computer-aided dispatch software system — InterAct — caters to the needs of law enforcement more so that the local dispatch’s software.

Judge Executive Dean Watts and Nelson County Attorney Matthew Hite were in the audience, and during the 911 discussion, attempted to speak up several times, but were called down by Mayor John Royalty and City Clerk Barbie Bryant.

Bryant explained that the rules that govern special meetings prohibit input from the public and therefore, no comments are allowed.

Judge Executive Dean Watts, left, and County Attorney Matthew Hite attended the meeting. Citing an opinion by the Kentucky Attorney General, Hite asked the council to suspend its rules against public comment in a special meeting in order for Watts and Hite to comment on the council’s discussion regarding the 911 agreement.

Citing an ruling by the Kentucky Attorney General, Hite said the rule prohibiting comment could be suspended by a majority vote of the council. Bryant and the mayor disagreed, with Hite offering them a printed copy of the AG opinion supporting his suggestion.

“Robert’s Rules of Order are not to stifle communication, they’re to keep order and you are using them to stifle communication,” he told Royalty.

When Watts spoke up again, Royalty warned him that he would ask him to leave if he continued to speak during the meeting.

DISPATCH BOARD LETTER REACTION. The E-911 Dispatch Board’s letter to the mayor and city council advising them to reach an agreement with Nelson Fiscal Court or determine where to send the city’s 911 calls was subject to critical comments by several people at the meeting.

City Attorney Tim Butler did not hold back his criticism of the dispatch board’s letter.

“We’ve got a subservient board — a board that was created by you all — who gave you an ulitmatium, who said ’40 percent, take it or leave it,’ ” he said. “That right there should tell you the level of respect [the council] gets.”

Butler said he was willing to continue negotiations at the council’s direction, but expressed reservations in regard to the outcome given the dispatch board’s ultimatum, which he called “a take-it or leave-it” deal that blindsided him.

“That’s a great partnership that we have,” he said of the board’s letter. “I have a different definition of partnership; I have a different definition of how people work together. We just don’t seem to be getting that.

“I’ll try my best to protect your interests in a situation where I think we have no bargaining position,” he said.

Councilman Roland Williams, left, speaks with City Attorney Tim Butler during Thursday’s special meeting.

As she did at the last council meeting, Councilwoman Kecia Copeland said she felt the city lacked willingness to try to resolve differences, adding that most of the comments she heard about the negotiations at the last council meeting were negative.

“Leadership is about negotiation and compromise,” she said. “Some of us lack those skills or we wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”

The safety of first-responders and citizens is at stake in the negotiations, she said.

“If you have a negative attitudes, it will never get better,” she told the city firefighters and police officers in the meeting room. “You’ll take that [attitude] to KSP too — and then there’ll be issues with them too.”

Councilman Roland Williams said he supported pushing forward with negotiations.

STICKING POINTS ADDRESSED. In order to continue negotiating, Butler said he needed the council’s specific guidance on the three sticking points in the agreement: Does the council want to require an ownership stake in new dispatch equipment?; Does the council want input on the hiring of the new dispatch director?; and finally, what is the maximum financial contribution the council is willing to agree to?

“You say ‘we need to compromise’ and ‘we need to work with them,’ then give me some specifics,” Butler told the council “If you don’t, I’ll do what I think is right. And please do not criticize me for doing what I think is right without specific direction.”

Councilwoman Kecia Copeland supported continued negotiations with the county regarding a new 911 agreement.

Butler said if he was told to do what’s best for the city, he doubted the county would accept his dispatch proposal.

Councilman Fred Hagan said the goal shouldn’t be to stay together with the county, but to serve the needs of city first-responders — and they have said they believe KSP dispatching is the better option.

Buckman said negotiating with the county wasted time that could be used to make the transfer to KSP dispatching.

After additional debate, the council voted 4-2 to authorize Butler to present a proposed agreement that will set the city’s financial contribution at $130,000 or 40 percent, whichever is less. Councilmen Bill Buckman and Fred Hagan voted against the measure.

As part of its motion, the council also gave the mayor authorization to enter into a dispatch agreement with KSP should the county reject the city’s proposal.

Speaking outside the council meeting, Judge Executive Dean Watts said that based on what he heard, Nelson Fiscal Court would likely approve the city’s proposal.

Larry Green, the city’s HR director, points to figures on a chart illustrating dispatch costs.

Butler cautioned the council about moving forward with the negotiations, given the tension that exists between the dispatch board and city first-responders.

“Please understand that you’re forcing a marriage here,” he said of the proposed agreement. “For better or for worse, in sickness and in health.”

Royalty warned the council that if the city stays with the joint dispatch operation and something happens to a city first-responder, “It’s going to be on your heads.”

911 FEE LEGAL ACTION. The council met in closed session to discuss possible litigation that would involve the city moving to stake its claim to the city’s share of the new 911 fee Nelson Fiscal Court placed on property tax bills.

The city passed its version of the 911 fee ordinance recently, and the council voted unanimously to hire outside counsel to take up a possible lawsuit.

Butler has previously said the city can claim the 911 fee on property taxes within its city limits. If the city can claim the fee, the money collected will go to help pay 911 dispatching costs, regardless of who is doing the dispatching.

Even if the city prevails in a legal action, the 911 money will still go to whoever is doing its 911 dispatching.

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