BESSEMER, MI - Saturday, June 28, 2008 - A meeting of the Gogebic County Enhanced 911 Committee was held on Thursday, June 26, 2008, in the Basement Conference Room of the Gogebic County Courthouse in Bessemer, Michigan. Members attending the meeting included: Jim Loeper, 911 coordinator; John Suutala, Michigan Township Association Representative; Mike Peterson, Bessemer Township Representative; Don Bennetts, City of Bessemer; Bob Morin, County Commissioner; Mike Wiemeri, 911 Committee Chairman; Ken Jacobson, Gogebic County Firefighters Representative; Ted Finco, President of the Gogebic County Firefighters Training Council; Leroy Kangas, Chairman of the County Board; Bob Erspamer, Ironwood Public Safety Department Director; Paul Wallenius, Wakefield Post Commander of the Michigan State Police; Larry Sanders, Gogebic County Sheriff; Randy Forstrom, Operations Manager for Beacon Ambulance; and Scott Voit, Gogebic County Sheriff's Deputy. Also attending were: Rachael Paquette, assistant 911 coordinator; Alan Traczyk, audio specialist/photographer and writer for the Chronicle; and yours truly.

Mike Wiemeri is the Committee's Chairman, and at 1:00 PM CST he called the meeting to order. Roll was taken and the agenda along with the minutes of the previous meeting were approved. Wiemeri opened the floor up to the public, but there was no public in attendance.

Jim Loeper presented a financial statement to the Committee. He noted that Negaunee Dispatch was paid $38,000 at the end of April. He also noted that the fund balance was $30,052.  He informed the Committee that the next "wireless payment"  is expected by the end of July. Loeper said the last payment was approximately $28,000 and the same should be expected at month's end.

According to Loeper, beginning July 1st, "wireline payments" will made quarterly. Because of that, the next "wireline payment" won't arrive until October. Loeper pointed out that, once he gets the next check, he will be able to determine how many phone lines (devices) are in Gogebic County. Currently, the telephone companies won't release information regarding the number of phone lines to the individual counties. They claim the information is proprietary. Loeper says the law requires telephone utilities to provide line information to the counties, but the phone companies are fighting  and disobeying the law.

Wireline payments come directly from the telephone companies. Wireless payments are first sent to the State of Michigan and then forwarded to the individual counties. According to Loeper, prepaid phone cards also pay the 911 fee through taxes. The fees paid are based on the location from which the card is purchased. In other words, the only phone cards that will benefit Gogebic County are phone cards purchased within Gogebic County. Phone card 911 fees on cards purchased outside of Gogebic County go to the counties and states where the cards are purchased.

"If you purchase, let's say 600 minutes. You may only get 590 minutes." Loeper explained, "They have to pay the difference to the State."

Loeper told the Committee that Track Phones and other prepaid cell phone systems don't currently pay 911 fees. He said that this situation will soon change and he expects an additional $3,000 in annual county-wide revenues to be generated.

When the phone companies refuse to disclose the number of phone lines on their systems, it is easy for them to abuse the process by not fully reporting the income generated through the fees. These unreported fees can easily be hidden and can become undeserved profits for the telephone companies. According to Loeper, Dickinson County is missing nearly 7,000 phone lines, compared to what the phone companies have been paying for 911 fees.

Loeper then requested to go into closed session to discuss the legal actions the Committee is taking regarding the surcharge denied by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) Appeal. During closed sessions, the media and members of the general public are required to leave the room. After a relatively short closed session, the meeting went back into open session.

The first order of business for the Committee, once they returned from closed session, was to unanimously approve the payment of their share of the costs for the appeal of the MPSC decision.

Jim Loeper reported to the Committee that the U.P. 911 Authority had a meeting with the Upper Peninsula County Commissioners back in April, and asked the Committee to make a motion to take the issue before the next Gogebic County Board meeting to have the County officially sign on as a member of the U.P. 911 Authority. According to Loeper, Chippewa County has signed on, and Marquette will be signing on next Tuesday. All other U.P. counties said they will be presenting it to their boards.

When asked about the cost, Loeper said, "We have set aside $700 to the attorney to come up with this Authority and if there is money left over, we plan on putting that into an account. And then the counties will all get together to decide on what the yearly fee would be to run the 911 Authority, and I don't think it is going to be much."

According to Loeper it is an allowable expense and he believes it would be a good move. The Authority would represent the Upper Peninsula counties with one united voice. The only U.P. County that may not join the Authority, it appears, is Menominee. Loeper said that Gogebic County would retain it's autonomy should they ever decide to break away from the Authority, however, presenting issues downstate as a unified Upper Peninsula entity would be more effective in negotiations, etc. Loeper pointed out that individual counties would still set their own policies and standards. The sole purpose of the Authority is to present the U.P. as a unified entity. The Committee voted to bring the proposal before the Gogebic County Board.

Jim Loeper then reported to the full Committee the results of the Ad Hoc Committee meetings. He handed out a list of Ad Hoc members. These are the members of the Ad Hoc Committee: Scott Erickson, Ironwood City Manager; Jay Kangas, Gogebic County Sheriff's Department; Tom Chatal, Bessemer City Manager; Bob Erspamer, Ironwood Public Safety Department; Bruce Mahler, Marenisco Police Department; Larry Sanders, Gogebic County Sheriff's Department; Mike Hazen, Lac View Desert Police Department; Ted Finco, Wakefield Fire Department; Jeff Randall, Bessemer Township Supervisor; Ken Jacobson, Fire Fighter Training Council; Bob Raisanen, Marenisco Township Supervisor; Bob Morin, Gogebic County Board Commissioner; and Paul Wallenius, Michigan State Police.

The major issue for the full Committee to consider was whether or not to have Jeff Nelson from PSC Alliance prepare an updated report on an enhanced 911 system for Gogebic County. Mr. Nelson told Loeper he could prepare an updated report for between $15,000 and $18,000. The Ad Hoc Committee approved a motion to bring the issue before the full Committee, but set an upper cap on the cost at no more than $10,000. Loeper told the full Committee that he had not contacted Nelson to see if he could update the report for only $10,000. At the Ad Hoc meeting, Paul Wallenius voted against the entire update idea at the Ad Hoc meeting.

At Thursday's meeting, Wallenius again voiced his opposition to the proposal. He suggested to the Committee that -- before spending up to $18,000 just to upgrade the 1991 report -- they contact Iron, Delta, Marquette, Menominee, and Dickinson counties who currently run their own 911 dispatch centers. "Contact them! Ask how much it costs to run them," Wallenius said, "Marquette County pays over $1,000,000 per year to run their dispatch center, with nine full-time employees!"

Bob Erspamer agreed with Wallenius. He said it may be premature to be looking into updating the proposal if each of those counties are paying more than Gogebic County can realistically afford to pay. The issue of start-up costs was also brought up. Where will the initial start-up money come from?

Loeper told the Committee that the LVD Tribe has expressed interest in assisting with the start-up costs, and that the USDA may have money available. Loeper explained that the Ad Hoc Committee is simply examining options. The PSC Alliance proposal, he explained, was simply to update the existing report to see how much it would cost to have a Gogebic County dispatch.

Mike Peterson said he thought the Ad Hoc Committee was supposed to be doing the ground work. He said before suggesting to the full Committee that a consultant be hired, the Ad Hoc should have done the homework. They should have found out what other counties are currently paying.

Wallenius said spending $18,000 on a study is a significant amount of money when the Committee's entire fund balance is only $30,000.

The Committee discussed the Negaunee Dispatch, other counties, and possible options. The general consensus was that the Negaunee Dispatch was doing a good job. The main concern of the Committee, however, was the rising costs, and whether or not the County could continue to pay those costs.

The Committee voted to table the decision until the Ad Hoc Committee finds out what other counties are currently paying for their 911 systems, and how much it cost them to set-up those systems.

Loeper told the Committee that the Central Dispatch Committee would be meeting on July 17, 2008. He said he spoke with Brian McEachern, Negaunee Regional Dispatch Representative, and McEachern extended an open invitation to any and all members of the Gogebic County E911 Committee to go to Negaunee and see the regional dispatch facility first hand. It was suggested that it might be worthwhile to visit the facility to see what kind of an operation they have.

LeRoy Kangas requested that a quarterly report be provided to the County Board so that they can be updated on what is happening with 911. Loeper agreed to provide the regular minutes and financial report to the County Commission.

Loeper told the Committee that he was able to obtain the communication gateway, and he is currently training people how to use it. The gateway is able to connect up to several radio frequencies in order to communicate and it has a mobile repeater on it.

The next meeting will be announced. The meeting adjourned at approximately 1:45 PM.

AUDIO 

Jim Albert