Brunswick Hills Township trustees approve police and fire dispatch contract with Brunswick

Brunswick Hills Trustees approved a three-year police and fire dispatching contract with the city of Brunswick Dec. 27. Brunswick City Council is expected to see legislation to approve the contract at its next meeting Jan. 14.

BRUNSWICK HILLS TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Township fire and police dispatch services will continue to be provided by the City of Brunswick, following Brunswick Hills trustees' approval of a three-year dispatching contract Dec. 27.

However, Trustees Michael Esber and Christina Kusnerak both said they would be closely monitoring the dispatching service throughout the contract.

"There are a lot of things in (the contract), such as quarterly meetings," Esber said. "We will be watching Brunswick closely."

The contract went into effect Jan. 1 and will include 2 percent increases annually throughout the duration of the contract, for a total cost of $70,039 in 2019, $71,440 in 2020 and $72,869 in 2021.

The contract also represents a 2 percent increase from the $68,666 the township paid the city in 2018, and includes an out clause for the township with 90 days' written notice to the city.

The contract was approved by a 2-0 vote, with Trustee John Witthuhn abstaining due to his employment with the Brunswick Division of Police.

The quarterly meetings Esber referred to reflect the contractually required formation of a dispatch advisory committee to include administrative officers from both the city and the township police and fire departments.

Brunswick Police Chief Brian Ohlin said the dispatch advisory committee idea dates to 2017, during discussions between the two communities about ways to improve fire dispatching service.

Brunswick City Council is expected to have its first reading of legislation to approve the police dispatching contract at its next regular meeting on Jan. 14.

Medina County offer

A three-year, $70,000-per-year police dispatching contract offer from the Medina County Sheriff's Office was also on the table at the time of the township vote.

The sheriff's offer, Brunswick Hills Police Chief Tim Sopkovich said, included dispatching service, along with the sheriff's records management system and fiber optic connection.

The township currently contracts with outside vendors for the latter two services, at a total cost of approximately $17,000 per year, and will continue to do so as part of the new dispatching contract with Brunswick.

Sopkovich supported moving township police dispatching service to the county system, stating prior to the vote that contracting with the county would avoid a required routing of 911 calls from cell phones in Brunswick Hills through the county to the city.

Moreover, Sopkovich said, Medina is already on the digital Harris radio system, which the majority of county agencies use. Sopkovich said he personally prefers the Harris system to the the statewide MARCS digital system that the city is in the process of upgrading to, but either upgrade will be a vast improvement over the current analog system.

"I would have liked to have radios in my guys' hands sooner, but we are going to push forward," Sopkovich said following the trustees' vote. "The trustees thought the MARCS system is best, and the upgrade will be a lot better than the (analog) UHF system we are all on right now."

The sheriff's dispatching contract would have covered police dispatching only, with a $9,700 additional cost to include dispatching for the Brunswick Hills Fire Department.

"So it would have been a little more with fire, but on the police side, I would have preferred the 'one-stop shop,'" Sopkovich said. "It didn't work out that way and I'm a little disappointed, but I am happy we will be getting new radios as soon as possible."

A question of coverage

Ohlin said the city's planned upgrade from its current analog system to the statewide MARCS 700-800 megahertz digital system is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2019, now that the Hills contract has been approved by the trustees.

Upgrading to digital radios in both the city and township police and fire departments, however, was anticipated no matter which contract was approved. Sopkovich said the Brunswick Hills Police Department has budgeted $50,000 for the radio upgrades.

Following the vote, Esber said he saw little difference in the quality of the digital radios themselves when comparing the MARCS and Harris systems. But Brunswick's current analog system, he said, is becoming increasingly obsolete.

"The problem was not with the radio systems; the problem was with using the old UHF (technology)," Esber said.

The city's timeline for upgrading to the MARCS system, though, was the reason for Kusnerak's support of the sheriff's contract through much of the negotiation.

"We were told a couple months ago it would be in the first quarter of 2019 and (most recently) they are saying that it might happen in the fourth quarter," Kusnerak said after the trustees' vote.

She also minced no words in expressing her ongoing concerns about the city's contract.

"I entered into an agreement, but I don't fully support it," Kusnerak said. "But (otherwise), we would have had no dispatch service at the beginning of this year."

Hinckley heading to the county

Meanwhile, the Hinckley Township Police and Fire departments will be ending their three-year dispatching agreement with Brunswick this week, effective April 1 -- one year into the latest contract.

Ohlin said he is disappointed with Hinckley's decision, calling it a "step backward," but does not anticipate the decision having any impact on staffing in the Brunswick Police dispatch center.

He said he feels the MARCS system is a more efficient and effective option for agencies and residents in Northern Medina County, adding that he hopes Medina County leaders embrace a more regional approach to safety service communications since "we talk to our neighboring counties on a daily basis."

"The system works like your cell phone, off of towers, and the farther you get from them, the signal (diminishes)," Ohlin said. "Medina County has its own system and there are five towers, none of which are in northern Medina County. The nearest one to Brunswick, Brunswick Hills and even Hinckley is at Route 3 and Fenn Road. They have about a 10-mile radius, and the MARCS system is statewide -- it has to support state troopers."

Perhaps most importantly, he said, is the fact that one of those MARCS towers is located in Brunswick, near Pearl and Boston roads.

"That is why (Brunswick Hills Fire) Chief (Anthony) Strazzo recommended (the MARCS system) to his trustees," Ohlin said.

Sopkovich pointed out though, that the county has plans to erect a tower in Hinckley Township, which has not been possible to date due to FCC regulations. The Sun has not been able to confirm the tower project with Medina County officials at this time.

Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.