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COLUMBIANA -- The city is looking to outsource its emergency and public works dispatching to the Columbiana County Sheriff's office in light of a "critical" staffing shortage.
City Council passed emergency legislation following an executive session during the Sept. 19 meeting to negotiate an agreement for the services to be provided by the county.
City Manager Lance Willard said the city has experienced "unexpected difficulties" with hiring and retention of people willing and qualified to serve as dispatchers and that the "situation is now critical."
Earlier this year the city took over dispatching services for the village of Leetonia, which was struggling the same problem.
The contract approved between the two municipalities was for one year.
According to a recent report through WFMJ, Leetonia is now looking into either contracting with the county as well, or reinstating its own dispatch center.
Willard said that the city's discussions with the county sheriff's office look promising at this point.
If approved, the county sheriff will take over dispatching for the city's water, sewer, electric and street department as well as police, fire and emergency medical services.
"With centralized dispatch becoming more and more common, we were thankful that the Sheriff is willing to consider taking us on. The safety of our employees and service for our residents are major priorities for us. After discussing with the Sheriff, we feel comfortable that our needs will be met. We will keep the residents up to date on the progress and details as they become available," Willard said.
Currently, the city's dispatch center is located in the police department and Willard said the city is "very grateful" to the dispatchers and officers that have been covering extra shifts for the last several weeks.
"We are sensitive to the loss of the two jobs and plan to help with the placement of them after the transition," he said.
City council also recently passed legislation to increase base wage rates for EMTs, AEMTs, and paramedics in order to be more competitive and attract and maintain part-time positions.
Base rates are now set at $18 an hour for EMTs, $19.35 for AEMTs, and $20.50 for paramedics.