Newberg Graphic Online

Newberg will join Washington County dispatch

Government — City council approves connecting of Newberg’s 9-1-1 center and radio dispatch to Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency

• By: Amanda Newman  
• Published: 11/27/2009 1:15:10 PM

   Newberg is getting out of the radio business ... but staying in dispatch for the long haul.
   Last week, the city council approved connecting of Newberg’s 9-1-1 communications center and radio equipment to Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency. The decision effectively means that the thrice-considered consolidation with Yamhill Communications Agency (YCOM), the latest effort of which was in talks as late as March of this year, is off the table.
   Newberg-Dundee Police Chief Brian Casey makes a couple of distinctions in discussing the changes. First, the move is a connection rather than a merger — Newberg will maintain its own dispatch operations. Second, running a dispatch center and a radio system are two separate things and usually handled by two separate entities.
   “This is going to lessen a lot of the responsibility we have outside of ... the police department,” Casey said, explaining that he is currently one of only a few police chiefs in Oregon running both a police department and a radio system. “It’s good for us to get out of the radio business.”
   The main problem with Newberg’s radio system, used to dispatch police and fire crews for the Newberg and Dundee areas, is age. The Motorola radio equipment is nearly 15 years old and at risk of failing, and the support and maintenance warranties run out this year and the next. The city had three options: replace the system, consolidate with YCOM, or connect to WCCCA.
   Replacing the system would have cost $1 million to $3 million, Casey said — likely closer to the $3 million mark. So the city looked long and hard at the consolidation with YCOM, which dispatches for much of the rest of Yamhill County.
   The merger was previously considered two times in the last decade, and the third effort, begun last year, appeared to be moving along. When the consolidation study released a technical systems report in March, the project stalled. Of the three options outlined in the report, only one would offer the connection the involved parties hoped for, and that was budgeted at more than $1 million. In the current economy, it didn’t seem a likely move.
   Casey and Yamhill County Sheriff Jack Crabtree said in March they both remained committed to looking into the merger, but would slow down efforts and proceed internally, looking at potential cost savings and staffing issues. But since then, Newberg had decided to go with its third option: connect to WCCCA.
   This wasn’t a new idea, either. In 2006, the council authorized the city to connect to WCCCA, which maintains overlapping coverage in the Newberg/Dundee area. Connection would allow Newberg and  Dundee responders to continue to use its 800 Mhz trunked radio system (YCOM’s conventional 450 MHz system presented one of that merger’s problems). Newberg would be able to continue using its existing radios and interoperate with Washington, Multnomah and Clackamas county agencies. Estimated fees were $25,000 for one-time startup costs and $283 per radio annually.
   Since then, the costs have risen. The startup cost is now about $345,000 and the annual cost will be $290 per radio (about $60,000). Casey has said there is no way to know why the startup cost has changed so drastically, but he thinks connection is still the best move for Newberg.
   “This, by far, was the cheapest of all the options and provides us with the best radio coverage,” Casey said. “WCCCA, in my opinion, has the best radio system in Oregon.”
   For one thing, they have some of the highest radio towers in the area. Newberg’s radio system relies on line of sight, so its coverage is only as good as its towers’ heights.
   “On our current system, when we get outside the city, we lose coverage,” Casey explained. WCCCA’s towers, located on Bald Peak and Chehalem Mountain, are much higher than Newberg’s and provide much better coverage. In emergencies, Newberg could connect briefly to their frequency. When officially connected, local dispatchers will be able to use the better radio system all the time.
   Casey said the most benefit will be realized by the fire department, which covers a “huge” rural protection district. And while connection will run about $60,000 a year, it will be offset by about $20,000 a year in cost savings and allow Newberg dispatch to improve in the future. Local dispatchers are slowly replacing their current mobile and portable radios, a few each year, Casey said, and the new radios will work on both analog and digital systems. When WCCCA makes the move to digital, Newberg and Dundee will be right there with them.

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