Dec 29
Wauconda Fire District Deputy Chief Ed Dagdick retired Friday evening after 38 years with the department.
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
During Ed’s speech he talked about how he met his wife 22 years ago. He came into the hospital doing CPR on an infant and handed her the baby in the ER. Last night for the first time, Ed met that same person, now 22-years-old.
Tim Olk photo
Nov 9
thanks Ron
Excerpts from theChicagoTribune.com:
Wauconda plans to save more than $700,000 a year by closing its dispatch center and hiring Lake Zurich to handle police calls and overnight detainees, Wauconda Village Administrator Doug Maxeiner said.
Meanwhile, the Wauconda Fire District will pay slightly more each year for Lake Zurich to handle its dispatch, but expected those costs to rise anyway, Fire District Chief Mike Wahl said.
The Lake Zurich Village Board voted unanimously earlier this month to provide police dispatch to Wauconda for an estimated $222,000 a year, to house overnight arrestees for $75 each per night, and to provide dispatch to the fire district for an estimated $122,000 a year.
Wauconda Village Board and the Wauconda Fire District Board approved the contracts earlier this year. The fees are based on the estimated number of calls the Wauconda police and fire departments handle each year and could rise based on increases in Lake Zurich police and fire salaries.
For Wauconda, closing its dispatch center made perfect financial sense, Maxeiner said … as the village’s net cost to operate the center each year was more than $700,000.
With dispatch and overnight detainee costs, Wauconda will pay Lake Zurich just $225,000 a year, Maxeiner said.
Nonetheless, Wauconda residents needed a little convincing that Lake Zurich dispatchers would know their community well enough to dispatch emergency calls. “The technology is such that you do not have to know the community,” Maxeiner said. “The technology tells you where the calls are originating and exactly how to get there.”
Lake Zurich plans to begin offering dispatch services and overnight accommodations for detainees on May 11, after the new StarCom21 radio system is installed in the village’s dispatch center and Lake Zurich and Wauconda fire departments are linked technologically, Lake Zurich Police Chief Steve Husak said. StarCom21 is a new radio system undergoing the final phases of installation in the Lake Zurich area.
“We are getting the radios programmed and encrypted,” he said. “Hopefully, by May 11 we will have them up and running in Lake Zurich. Then we would be able to take on dispatch for them from here.”
Wahl said technology available at the Lake Zurich dispatch center is three times as great as the GPS technology available on most cellphones.
Our [current] dispatchers don’t necessarily live in Wauconda either. They get to know things the average person doesn’t know, but I suspect after time the Lake Zurich dispatchers will get the same comfort level.”
The fire district had to select another dispatch center when Wauconda chose to close theirs, Wahl said, and given that the village would have increased its fees eventually anyway, Lake Zurich fees will be about the same.
“It’s probably a break-even for us overall,” Wahl said. “It costs a little extra, but we have not had a cost increase from the village for a couple of years. If we had stayed, there most likely would have been a slight increase, for which it would have been a wash.”
Wauconda firefighters responded to 28036 N. Lakeview Circle (McHenry) for a house fire Thursday morning and were met with heavy fire from the attached garage. The incident was upgraded to a Box Alarm which brought multiple tankers (tenders) to the scene plus other suppression companies.
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Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
more photos at shapirophotography.net
Excerpts from the OakLawnLeaf.com:
A Lake County municipality is “rethinking” an idea to move forward with controversial plans to close the village’s 911 emergency communications center and to outsource the services to a county group in light of opposition from community members and the problems experienced in other outsourcing such as the Village of Oak Lawn’s decision to privatize the services.
Village of Wauconda Trustees voted last Tuesday to table the move to the county group known as CenCom stating that there were too many questions and that it was too soon to vote. Mayor Frank Bart, who was elected two years ago, has pledged to close the 911 center and outsource the services to CenCom, which dispatches for 11 police and fire departments in Lake County. Bart has claimed that the move would save the village $300,000 a year.
However, opponents have pointed to the Village of Oak Lawn’s decision to outsource the services previously provided by union dispatchers in favor of a private company. “That decision was a disaster and I would be lying if I said we weren’t aware of those problems,” said a high ranking Wauconda village official who asked not to be identified.
Oak Lawn’s Village Manager Larry Deetjen had argued that his village would save money without affecting public safety when he recommended the privatization in Oak Lawn. Since that time, the village has had four directors of the center and been victimized by complaints from firemen, police officers and the public because of mistakes.
Wauconda’s administrator is admitting that the dispatchers would lose their jobs but said they would receive preferential consideration for the new jobs. A similar promise by Deetjen resulted in only a handful of the dispatchers being hired by the private company. Of those hired, half resigned shortly thereafter in light of the way the operations were handled. One dispatcher wrote a letter to the board detailing problems and to Mayor Sandra Bury [who] dismissed the letter as anonymous but also dismissed the complaints after the dispatcher came forward. The village never investigated any of the claims, including the statement that dispatchers were told to destroy complaints that were being made by police officers and firefighters.
Several glaring mistakes have resulted in headlines that have been reportedly noticed even in Wauconda. Hundreds of complaints have been made by public safety officers regarding dispatchers failing to send the right information to the police officers and firemen.
911 records reviewed by the Oak Lawn Leaf, after a legal tug of war that included the Attorney General of Illinois ruling that a 911 video should be released, showed a 6 to 7 minute delay in sending any ambulances to the fatal car accident killing two Roman Catholic Nuns at 95th and Cicero.
To make matters worse, the promised savings in Oak Lawn have not added up as promised with the union representing the dispatchers suing the village and later accepting a cash settlement. When Oak Lawn trustees voted 4-2 to privatize the services, the board ignored the threat of legal action and pleas from several 911 emergency operators and the wife of a police officer.
Oak Lawn Trustee Robert Streit, who along with former Trustee Carol Quinlan were the only votes against the privatization, noted that the village residents depend on professional service from its firemen and police officers. He said the 9-1-1 operators were the people behind the scenes that make sure the ambulance that residents call gets to the right address in a timely manner and assures police officers that a back up squad is on its way during a robbery.
He said that he is happy to hear that the Wauconda trustees are taking a hard look at the issue rather than blindly following the village manager’s suggestion. He said that he wishes Oak Lawn was not seen as an example of a bad decision but perhaps the mistake can be avoided elsewhere.
thanks Dan
Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
Wauconda trustees on Tuesday delayed moving forward with controversial plans to shutter the town’s 911 center and outsource dispatching. Too many questions about the proposal to join CenCom need answers, Trustee Tim Howe said, and that means that it’s too soon to vote.
Mayor Frank Bart has championed closing the 911 center since he was elected two years ago.
CenCom has become the focus of the village’s outsourcing talk.
thanks Ron
Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
A controversial plan to outsource Wauconda’s police dispatch service could move closer to a resolution Tuesday.
Village Administrator Doug Maxeiner will ask trustees to commit to a plan to join CenCom, a 911 call center based in Round Lake Beach that already serves 11 police and fire departments throughout Lake County. If the deal is approved, Wauconda’s high-tech 911 center, which is at the police station, would be mothballed. Eleven employees would be laid off. Wauconda’s dispatchers would get preferential consideration if CenCom expands its staff.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Trustee Ken Arnswald, who formerly opposed outsourcing but has swung the other way. “I don’t want anyone to be out of a job.”
Many Wauconda residents have spent much of the last year protesting outsourcing plans. In recent months, however, outsourcing supporters have begun appearing at meetings and speaking their minds in greater numbers.
Going with CenCom could save Wauconda up to $300,000 annually, Maxeiner said in June. The village’s spending is outpacing revenue, and he’s voiced concern about future budget deficits.
The consolidation debate ramped up more than a year ago. At first, officials primarily talked about outsourcing the service to Lake Zurich. Maxeiner recently changed focus to CenCom because that group could better serve calls for the Wauconda Fire Protection District, which also uses Wauconda’s center. The Tower Lakes and Lakemoor police departments pay Wauconda to handle their 911 calls, too, and also would be affected if the center shuts down.
The shift was made concrete in June when the board voted to petition CenCom for membership and to negotiate an agreement for admission.
“The time to consolidate is now,” Wauconda Mayor Bart said. “We keep this quality public safety service, we save over $300,000 of taxpayer dollars annually, and it gives our displaced employees the preferential opportunity to be hired by CenCom.”
The board’s decision is influenced by political machinations in Springfield, officials said. Gov. Bruce Rauner’s threatened cuts to local shares of tax revenue has Wauconda officials worried about balancing future budgets. Additionally, state lawmakers have approved legislation that calls for dispatch centers to consolidate significantly in the future.
With those factors in mind, Wauconda’s trustees shifted from generally opposing outsourcing to favoring a deal with CenCom.
thanks Ron
Some images of Wauconda’s new Squad 341.
New Ferrara rescue pumper for Wauconda. Shaun Unell photo
Rear view of the new Wauconda squad. Shaun Unell photo
The Wauconda Fire District has ordered an MVP pumper squad from Ferrara on an Ember chassis. The engine/squad will have a 1500-gpm pump with 750 gallons of water. Delivery is expected in late June or early July. The new unit will replace the Pierce Lance pumper/squad.
new pumper/squad for Wauconda.
The Daily Herald has an updated article on the discussions of outsourcing the Wauconda 9-1-1 Center.
For the third time in less than a year, a controversy in Wauconda is pitting concerned residents against village hall. This time it’s a proposal to close the police department’s dispatch center and outsource the service to nearby Lake Zurich.
On Tuesday, Village Administrator Doug Maxeiner will talk to the board and the community about why he thinks outsourcing is a good idea. The session is set for 7:15 p.m. at Wauconda High School.
No vote is planned after the discussion. That could come in March at the earliest.
Ahead of the meeting, we’ve tried to answer questions about the plan and its potential impact on the community.
Q. Why has outsourcing been proposed?
A. The dispatchers are represented by a labor union, and they’ve been working without a contract since April 2013. Village officials investigated outsourcing as a way to save money on the cost of dispatching.
Q. How much money will it save?
A. Maxeiner has said contracting with Lake Zurich could save $2.1 million over five years.
Q. If this is a money issue, is the village in trouble financially?
A. Not right now. But it could face deficit spending within a year or two, officials said last week.
Q. Did this idea originate with Mayor Frank Bart?
A. Bart has said the inquiries started before he took office in May 2013. At a June 4 board meeting, however, Bart said running the 911 center is too costly to be sustainable. He said eliminating the service could save $600,000 annually, the official minutes for the meeting show. They certainly were under way before Maxeiner started as village administrator in November 2013, although he acknowledged it was one of the projects he was handed upon being hired.
Q. Why was Lake Zurich chosen to provide the service?
A. In a news release, Maxeiner said Lake Zurich’s dispatchers are “highly professional” and proficient in assessing emergency situations and getting the right personnel and equipment to scenes. The center also is part of an accredited police department, he said, and the dispatchers have served as Wauconda’s backup for years.
Q. Have other towns or agencies bid for the service?
A. Village officials gathered pricing information from dispatch centers in Mundelein, Fox Lake and Round Lake, as well as a private company that offers the service, Maxeiner said Monday. He’s also personally spoken with officials from three of the agencies. “Based strictly on cost, it appears that Lake Zurich would be the preferred choice,” he told the Daily Herald.
Q. Will the Wauconda Police Department be the only agency affected?
A. No. The Wauconda Fire Protection District — an independent government agency — also uses the police department’s dispatchers for emergency calls, as do the Lakemoor and Tower Lakes police departments. All would have to find new 911 providers.
Q. What will happen to Wauconda’s current dispatchers if the village shuts down the center?
A. Ten full-time and two part-time dispatchers will be laid off.
Q. What will happen to the dispatch center and its equipment if the board approves outsourcing?
A. The village could sell the equipment, Maxeiner said. Officials also could try to reduce the cost of outsourcing by negotiating the use of the gear, he said. Or, they could keep the equipment for uses that haven’t yet been made public.
Q. Were voters promised dispatch services wouldn’t be outsourced if they approved a tax increase for the fire protection district in 2010?
A. Yes. But Bart has repeatedly criticized that referendum and the promises made to the community. Last week, when someone pointed out the pledge not to outsource was a big selling point, Bart said: “That was back in 2010. It’s a different time.”
Q. Is outsourcing a done deal?
A. No. Maxeiner’s preliminary recommendation is just that — a recommendation. It’ll be up to the six members of the village board to vote on the proposal. Bart would be asked to break a tie if the vote comes down 3-3.
thanks Dan
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