BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG — Ogdensburg and St. Lawrence County officials are sparing over the city’s efforts to push dispatch services to the county.

Ogdensburg will transition all emergency dispatch services from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to the county beginning Sept. 26 and plans to completely transfer the services by Dec. 26.

However, Emergency Services Director Matt Denner said he has some concerns about the execution of the city’s plan.

“At the September 12th Board of Legislator meeting the board approved a resolution to enter into an agreement with municipalities for dispatching services. I know our County Attorney has drafted an agreement and it is in its final reviews. As for the 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. side of it I do not feel we can accomplish this safely at this time,” he said in an emailed response to Jellie. “I have concerns in doing this with the current call volume we currently have and adding Ogdensburg PD’s to that would be too much for one dispatcher to handle during that time frame. We are currently in process of a capital remodel of our Public Safety Building to be able to add two more dispatch desks to give us six with room for eight, With the proper staffing I feel this could be accomplished safely.”

Jellie, though, said he’s not concerned with how the county accomplishes the task, but says Ogdensburg won’t be bending on its timeline.

“You can certainly work out the finer details with Chief Kearns, but I want to be clear. The City’s dates for implementation are set and we cannot change the dates to accommodate the County any longer. It has been over 3.5 years since this transition was placed on the map, and over 25 years the City has been doing a mission that only the County is funded for. The City will not perform any function related to E911 after 31 December 2022,” he said.

The response prompted a letter from St. Lawrence County Attorney Stephen Button saying the county would not be implementing that dispatch takeover as quickly as Jellie is hoping.

“Please accept this letter as formal notification that St. Lawrence County will not be assuming the City of Ogdensburg's S-PSAP responsibilities absent a mutual agreement and, as such, the City remains obligated under the law to continue to provide that service given the City's longstanding occupancy of that field,” he said.

Button provided previous court rulings describing why the county would not be doing so.

“Based upon the aforementioned, the County will not acquiesce to your demands related to assumption of the S-PSAP function of the City of Ogdensburg absent a clear understanding, via written agreement, as to the nature of the responsibility to be undertaken and without appropriate consideration. Your prior communications have suggested that the County already provides these S-PSAP services to other municipalities and argues that the County should afford Ogdensburg similar support. It also suggests that these services have been given to the New York State Police.”

Button says St. Lawrence County has not provided these services to the New York State Police and while St. Lawrence County Emergency Services has provided S-PSAP services to other communities from time-to-time, “the nature of that support was limited, driven by exigent circumstances, with limited call volume, and not permanent.”

Button also included a proposal to move forward with adjusted dates, but Jellie remained unswayed in his convictions.

“The City will continue as planned for several months with the transition of the Police Dispatching services to the County; a function that you are well aware is the responsibility of the County to provide as the County receives and consumes all state and federal funds and local tax dollars,” he wrote. “The County has failed to address this topic for several months, however the City will continue progress. You and the County Administrator continue to impede, stall and obstruct all progressive local government initiatives, all tactics that cost city taxpayers double for the same service, and the City has demonstrated it will no longer tolerate that heavy handed behavior.”

Jellie went on to state that the city is within legal standing to move forward with its plan.