BANGOR, Maine — The contentious debate over whether to merge Bangor’s emergency dispatch services with the county’s could blossom again in Bangor four years after voters rebuffed the city’s effort to consolidate.
Penobscot County is applying for a $492,000 grant to cover the costs of remodeling and expanding the Penobscot Regional Communications Center at 97 Hammond St. to allow Bangor to merge its dispatch services with the rest of the county’s.
During a meeting Monday night, Bangor City Council gave City Manager Cathy Conlow permission to sign on to the grant, which was required if the county wanted to submit it for consideration.
This council has not yet backed the concept of consolidating dispatch. That decision would only be made if the grant is approved and after committee and council discussions and public hearings.
The grant would come from the state’s Fund for the Efficient Delivery of Services and would cover all costs associated with the remodeling, according to the city. If the consolidation were to happen without the grant, Bangor would be responsible for funding about 24 percent of the renovation costs — about $120,000.
This grant presents an opportunity for consolidation that wouldn’t cost the county or city but only if Bangor councilors ultimately decide to back it, Conlow told councilors Monday. If Bangor ultimately decides not to merge Bangor dispatch with PRCC, the grant will be withdrawn and the project won’t move forward.
In October 2010, the Bangor City Council voted to start the process of consolidating Bangor’s dispatch services with those of the PRCC. The council argued the city’s taxpayers were paying twice for the same service — once to run Bangor’s dispatch center and again to help fund the county’s dispatch operations.
According to stories from the time, Bangor residents spent $562,000 annually to operate the city’s own dispatch and another $380,000 to help fund the regional center. Messages seeking current dispatch costs were not immediately returned Tuesday.
City officials will compile updated budget information in the event that the council deliberates consolidation during upcoming budget talks.
In 2011, a successful petition drive launched by a Bangor dispatcher put the consolidation question in front of Bangor voters, who overwhelmingly shot it down. Three-quarters of the residents who cast ballots wanted Bangor to keep its own dispatch services.
James Morrill, the dispatcher who spearheaded that effort, said during Monday’s meeting that he hoped the 76 percent vote from four years ago sent the council a signal that Bangor residents wanted dispatch to stay the way it is.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.