County and city work on new communications board agreement

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A new agreement between Floyd County and Charles City will be one more step in the process of relocating the radio dispatch center from the City Hall to the new county law enforcement center being constructed next to the courthouse.

Part of that change will be making the dispatchers and the dispatch supervisor — currently city employees under the supervision of the police chief — into employees of Floyd County, with a dispatch supervisor becoming essentially a department head position, managing the dispatch center and reporting directly to the board of supervisors.

The plan is for the dispatchers to switch from city to county employment on Jan.1, keeping the same pay scales and keeping as close as possible to the same benefits and longevity status.

The 28E agreement replaces the current Floyd County Communications Board, which has decision-making and spending authority over county emergency communications, with a board that is advisory in nature. All supervisory and spending decisions would rest with the county Board of Supervisors.

In reality, the county already pays all the bills for countywide radio dispatch, including reimbursing the city for the salaries of the dispatchers and other costs at City Hall.

The Board of Supervisors spent some time at a workshop meeting Monday morning hashing over the minutia of the agreement, working out small details and fine-tuning it.

Floyd County Assistant County Attorney Randall Tilton said at the meeting that the main change from an agreement now in effect is the change in the Communications Board from a supervisory to an advisory role.

Another thing it cleans up is the ownership of property purchased under the old board.

One potential question was a section of the agreement that says the county will pay for insurance for the radio tower and backup generator located at City Hall, and hold the city harmless for any damage.

County Auditor Gloria Carr wondered if that meant the county would be responsible for damage caused, for example, by a lightning strike on the tower that damaged other city equipment not connected to the communications system, or that caused the tower to fall onto City Hall.

The board inserted a phrase in the language saying the county would not be responsible for claims arising from an act of God.

The Charles City Council discussed and unanimously passed the new agreement at its regular meeting Monday evening.

City Administrator Steve Diers said the city’s own insurance would cover any damages such as those suggested at the supervisors’ meeting.

The supervisors will discuss whether to pass the agreement at its regular meeting today (Tuesday).

The members of the new advisory communications board will be one representative selected by the Board of Supervisors, one representative selected by the City Council, and one representative selected at-large by the two other representatives.

Also included will be the Charles City police chief, the Floyd County sheriff, a representative of the communications systems center selected by the police chief and sheriff, and a representative of the Floyd County Firefighters Association selected by the police chief and sheriff.