OLD ORCHARD BEACH – The Old Orchard Beach Town Council has approved paying Scarborough to provide emergency response dispatching services starting next year.

For the first year, Old Orchard Beach will pay Scarborough $305,977 for answering its incoming 911 calls and sending out the appropriate first responders, according to Scarborough Fire Chief Mike Thurlow.

In addition to the base contract, Old Orchard will also be responsible for the costs associated with making the required data connection to the Scarborough dispatch center, purchasing the necessary computer hardware and all the other one-time costs required for the combined dispatching service, Thurlow said.

Currently, Old Orchard Beach uses the Sanford Regional Communications center to answer 911 calls for the town. That service will continue until February of 2015, when Scarborough will begin taking the calls instead, according to Thurlow.

Under the agreement reached between Scarborough and Old Orchard Beach, Scarborough will hire three new dispatchers to handle the increased call volume. The agreement stipulates that Old Orchard Beach’s payment to Scarborough for dispatching services will increase by 3 percent annually.

Thurlow said that Scarborough would need to make some physical space modifications at its dispatch center and purchase some computer hardware in order to accommodate the increased staff and equipment.

However, he said some of the new equipment is part of the start-up costs that Old Orchard Beach is paying and that some is equipment that Old Orchard Beach already owns, which will be treated as a contribution in kind.

As a result of the council’s vote last week, Old Orchard Beach will notify the city of Sanford of its intent to use Scarborough to provide emergency dispatching going forward, and officials in Scarborough and Old Orchard Beach will now work on creating a formalized contract.

The Old Orchard Beach Town Council vote was unanimous, with Chairman Shawn O’Neill absent and Councilor Joseph Thornton, who works for the Scarborough dispatch center, recusing himself.

– Kate Irish Collins