Amid controversy, Gorham’s emergency and non-emergency dispatch joined Cumberland County’s Regional Communication Center in South Windham this week.

Many other communities have likewise transferred their emergency call services to the regional dispatch since legislation called for towns to merge emergency dispatches throughout the state. And as the Cumberland County regional dispatch looks to expand their headquarters in the coming year, more communities may follow in Gorham’s footsteps as the state’s deadline for E-911 consolidation approaches.

“Overall so far, the transition has gone very smoothly,” said Cumberland County Communications Director Bill Holmes of Gorham’s recent move into the regional dispatch. “We do expect a few bumps along the way, but so far it’s been a smooth transition.”

The county has hired five of the six Gorham dispatchers to continue on as county dispatchers at the Cumberland County Regional Communications Center, located in an old bomb shelter bunker in South Windham. On any given shift, Holmes said, one dispatcher will handle all sheriff’s department calls, another will relay Gorham police calls and two dispatchers will cover all fire/rescue calls.

Holmes said, with professional staff in place, the regional dispatch will be able to provide just as effective service as the Gorham dispatch has provided in the past. The transition should be “seamless” he added with all dispatch calls now redirected to the regional center.

Cumberland County’s regional dispatch currently services E-911 calls for 15 out of the 27 communities in the county. In the Lakes Region, those communities include Standish, Raymond, Casco, Sebago and Naples.

The “E-911” legislation, enacted in 2003, calls for a reduction in the number of E-911 dispatches, also known as Public Services Answering Points, or PSAPs, throughout Cumberland County from 14 to 4. This is projected to save the state $1 million in the cost of operation. Towns who refused to consolidate must then pay the full cost of E-911 dispatch.

County Manager Peter Crichton believes that regionalization of dispatches will make the service more effective and cut down as well on costs for the towns.

“I think that in Maine you have to show people that something can work,” Crichton said. “I believe we’re going to do that and (the Gorham consolidation) will help to show people that this is a good thing for not only the taxpayers, but also in being able to provide service effectively.”

Crichton went to say that New Hampshire has only two E-911 dispatches which service the entire state and New York City has only one.

This argument doesn’t woo Karen Paro however, secretary for the Gorham Fire Department, who has spearheaded a petition drive to overturn the Gorham Town Council vote that authorized regionalization of the Gorham dispatch. She believes the dispatch move will end up costing Gorham more money and will lessen the security of the town. It is yet to be proven, Pero says, that regionalized dispatch is more effective, especially with what she calls a loss of community connection.

“I can’t tell you the number of times that people have just walked in here needing help,” Pero said.

Paro is also concerned about such programs as “Elder Care” where seniors used to call into Gorham dispatch to report how they were doing healthwise.

Paro said that she and many others had no knowledge of dispatch’s move until a week before the vote. Concerned with the “sneaky” manner in which she believes Gorham officials went about deciding the matter, she and others collected over a thousand signatures from the public to challenge that vote.

On Monday, Sept. 12, Gorham residents will cast ballots for or against the move. Despite the fact that the vote may be overturned and the contract with the county nullified, the Gorham dispatch has already made the move to the regional communication center.

“The town of Gorham had been considering consolidation of dispatch for ten years,” says Gorham Town Manager David Cole. “It’s not as if this is plowing new ground. Most of the issues involved are pretty well known here.”

Years ago, Westbrook, Gorham and Windham had considered joining their dispatches into one, Cole said. In negotiating the recent move, Cole asked Westbrook to give them a price on what they would charge the town were Gorham to choose to consolidate with Westbrook instead. Their price was higher than that given by the county and so it was decided that Gorham would move to the regional center.

“We got very favorable responses from (towns who have consolidated) and a lot of them said they would never go back to a town dispatch,” Cole said.

The move will save Gorham $223,000 a year, Cole said, not including the $209,000 it would cost the town to operate their E-911 dispatch if they refused to consolidate as recommended by the state.

Cole also contends that he gave the public “sufficient” information on the consolidation, including a ten-page explanation on the town’s Web site, before the decision was voted on. Cole hopes that the move will not only save the town money, but also provide better training opportunities for the dispatchers.

The Cumberland County Regional Communications Center will soon begin construction of a 6,600 square foot building on top of their current bunker headquarters. This new building could house 10 to 20 dispatchers for future consolidations, and possibly a public safety training room.

As communities work toward consolidating their E-911 dispatches, Crichton believes more communities will choose, as Gorham did, to transfer their full dispatch to regional communications center.

Crichton said the challenge, after consolidation, is getting input from the public and that is why there is a board of directors for the regional communications center made up of citizens from the communities involved, he added.