Stark County's 911 proposal wins $100,000 grant
By Amy Knapp
CantonRep.com staff report
June 9, 2010
Stark County's effort to develop a countywide emergency dispatch center will receive a $100,000 boost.
The Fund for Our Economic Future, a collaboration of foundations, organizations and philanthropists, announced Wednesday that Stark County's project placed second among 10 finalists in its EfficientGovNow competition. The contest, now in its second year, allowed Northeast Ohio residents to vote for the most efficient money-saving collaboration among local governments. Nearly 17,500 Northeast Ohioans voted.
Stark County's emergency dispatch center received the most first-place votes in the competition but finished second in overall points behind a collaborative land bank proposal from Mahoning County, which will receive the $61,420 it requested.
The competition will distribute $261,420 in awards to the top three projects and $70,000 to fourth collaboration among smaller communities in Ashtabula, Columbiana, Summit, Carroll and Lorain counties, which ranked sixth in the competition. The grants will be distributed in stages as the projects reach specific benchmarks.
Brad Whitehead, president of the Fund, praised the projects. He said collaboration among communities within Northeast Ohio is "the way we do business." Communities need to be cooperating instead of competing so that Northeast Ohio compete on a global level, he said.
STARK'S PROPOSAL
Stark County officials sought the $100,000 award to help finance the $6.3 million emergency dispatch proposal, which seeks to combine the existing 10 dispatch centers and county 911 call center. They believe the consolidated center will provide better services, make residents safer and save roughly $2 million a year in taxpayer money.
Randy Gonzalez, chairman of the governance board overseeing the countywide dispatch center, said the grant will help offset costs for equipment needed to open the center. The money won't be spent on personnel, he assured.
Gonzalez also commended local media efforts for helping to promote the competition and drive votes for Stark County's proposal. Two weeks before the voting deadline, Stark County's proposal had ranked sixth.
"The most wonderful part about it was the energy of the community in voting for it," Gonzalez said.
Besides the EfficientGovNow grant, Gonzalez said the governance board, which is a subcommittee of the Stark Council of Governments, also has submitted a request to U.S. Rep. John Boccieri's office for a multimillion grant that would be used to supply all police and fire agencies with updated radio equipment.
Article reprinted with permission, Copyright 2010, The Canton Repository, All Rights Reserved. |
