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2017-01-24 Meeting with Tom CrowsonMeeting with Tom Crowson January 24, 2017 10:10 a.m. Present: Commissioner Stamper, Commissioner Fund, Commissioner Jackson, Dave Anderson and Steve Walton Guests: Tom Crowson and Sandra White Tom Crowson talked about possibly moving the 911 center. He talked about placing a one-tenth of 1 percent measure on the ballot. He said Grant County could be used as a template. Commissioner Stamper asked if it should wait until February 2018 to meet the requirements for passage. Steve Walton said there are critical steps that need to be addressed before taking it to the public. Tom said he has been trying to form a committee on putting it together. Steve Walton discussed a previous study that looked at what would be needed to meet compliance requirements. Dave Anderson talked about narrow band requiring additional towers. He said P25 compliance would be quite expensive. He also said Grant County could raise a lot more money through one-tenth of 1 percent funding than Lewis County could. Dave said Pacific County just went through the same type of scenario and gave templates for press releases, templates, etc. He said he already shared the information with Kirk Johnson. He said the police chiefs of Chehalis and Centralia have indicated they are not in support of the one-tenth of 1 percent idea. Tom said he had spoken with Bob Guenther, who supports the idea of a sales tax increase for 911. He said Bob indicated he could help with spreading the message. Steve Walton said a few things would need to be in place before going forward. Among the moves needed: getting the intergovernmental agreement in place, creating a strategic plan (what’s the money going to be used for, etc.). Commissioner Jackson asked if it would be possible to include a command center in the proposed center. Tom said a landowner would be willing to donate 40 acres of his 100-acre property at Exit 71 to be used for this if he could get water and sewer to it. He talked about that being a place for Fire District 5’s headquarter station as well as the 911 center and command center. Tom talked about housing an equestrian center at the site as well. The group discussed submitting requests for grant funding. Commissioner Stamper said the group would need to get Centralia and Chehalis on board with the proposal. Tom Crowson asked if the commissioners could create a resolution supporting the idea of one-tenth of 1 percent. Commissioner Fund said getting the strategic plan rolling first would be important. She said a timeline also would be needed before moving forward. Dave Anderson said the strategic plan he created last year outlines the specific needs. He said he was awaiting feedback from the groups using the services. He said the recent rate increase reflected operations only, not infrastructure. He said there is millions of dollars of infrastructure updating needed. He said many pieces of equipment are being maintained to go further than the typical end-of-life. The group said the problem is getting the groups to pay for the things they say they want. Commissioner Stamper said the interlocal would bind everyone together. Steve said he has created a draft. The group said the strategic plan and interlocal agreement would be the first step. Commissioner Stamper left the meeting at 10:57 a.m. Sandra White asked what the interlocal addresses. Steve said Emergency Management is a part of it, as are District 5 and the various departments. Tom asked if the group liked the idea of a new 911 comm center. The group said yes. Dave Anderson talked about using a PL tone and a piper to eliminate frequency complaints. He said he has given that direction but that the agencies, which are responsible for their own radios, have not taken that step. Commissioner Fund left at 11:04 a.m. Meeting ended at 11:04 a.m.