Lake County Compliance Review Issued March 2014

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Jordan West
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1 Issued March 2014 At the March 2003 meeting of the State 911 Committee (SNC), the SNC voted to conduct random compliance reviews of 911 expenditures of Michigan counties. These reviews would be for expenditures of funds which are generated through the provisions of the amended 911 Act, Public Act No. 32 of County 911 revenues include wireless revenues distributed to counties through the State 911 Fund, revenues collected through county 911 surcharges on landline phones, and dispatcher training funds distributed to primary public safety answering points (PSAPs). On August 22, 2013, the SNC Certification Subcommittee randomly selected Lake County for a compliance review. Subcommittee members Mr. Tim Smith, *Mr. Greg Clark, Mr. Ron Bonneau, and Ms. Amanda Kennedy were named to the Lake County review team by the chair. The years 2010, 2011, and 2012, were decided as the time period for the focus of the review. On August 26, 2013, a letter advising Lake County of its review was sent to Mr. David Sanders. The letter requested the following information from Lake County: The Lake County 911 plan. A copy of the policies and procedures for Lake County 911. A copy of the 2010, 2011, and 2012, 911 budgets. Copies of wireless training funds, revenue journal entries and expenditures, and completed State 911 Committee 510s from 2008 to date. Name of a contact person to serve as coordinator for review. The requested information was received by the State 911 Administrator s Office in a very timely manner. Mr. Sanders was the designated contact person for the review. Background The primary PSAP in Lake County is funded through a combination of state 911 fees as well as a local millage. Lake County implemented Enhanced 911 in The county became Phase II compliant in Lake County has been certified as eligible to receive its portion of state 911 fee funds. A millage was passed in 2008 for $1.75 million and went into effect January 1, Lake County 911, hereinafter referred to as LCN, serves as primary PSAP for the county s 911 call volume and emergency services dispatching. LCN dispatches for two police departments and as a relay center for two others, which include: Lake County Sheriff Department Michigan State Police Department of Natural Resources (DNR) (Relay) United States Forest Service (USFS) (Relay) LCN dispatches for one Emergency Medical Services (EMS), with two locations: Life EMS North Life EMS South LCN dispatches for nine (volunteer) fire departments and as a relay center for two departments: Baldwin Fire Department Carr Fire Department Lake Fire Department Lincoln Fire Department Reed City Fire Department Tustin Fire Department Webber Fire Department Yates Fire Department

2 2 P age Luther Fire Department DNR and USFS (Relay) In 2011, LCN received an estimated 2,149 landline and 4,139 wireless 911 calls. LCN logged 41 VoIP calls and 29,961 non-911 calls in All wireless 911 calls are answered by the Lake County PSAP. LCN takes all calls for police, fire, and medical for Lake County. Call re-routing and operational backup is provided through Newaygo County, while the Lake County Residential Reentry Program facility provides radio backup and phone call processing via relay. The center maintains Universal Power Supply on all mission critical equipment. There is a backup generator for the entire facility in the event of a power interruption or failure. The generator is not equipped with an alarm or annunciator to alert the dispatcher in the event of a failure. Lake County s maintenance department has placed bid to install an alarm to notify the dispatchers when the generator activates. LCN is awaiting bid results at this time. Review Process On October 15, 2013, the review team held a pre-review meeting in Baldwin. Site Visit to Lake County 911 October 15, 2013 The site visit and review of LCN was held on October 15, The review team met with the Dispatch Center Director, Mr. David Sanders. Policies and procedures are up to date, available on each computer s shared drive, and in hard copy format located near both consoles. Dispatchers are updated of any new policies/procedures or changes to current documents by the center director and required to sign an acknowledgement of said modifications. The closest car concept is utilized for law enforcement only. Fire departments operate under mutual aid agreements and EMS is dispatched based on their designated (North/South) response area. The dispatch center is located in Baldwin, at a complex that includes the County Sheriff s administration and jail, and the County Courthouse. A flat rate administrative fee of five percent is paid to the County of Lake for use of the facilities. This fee includes the facility as well as utilities, maintenance, and regular cleaning as well as county resources such as payroll and human resources. The center is accessed through the main secured entrance to the Lake County building and is monitored by a deputy and metal detector. The access door to the actual dispatch center has a keypad access, and is monitored by the dispatchers on duty. The center size is approximately 1100 sq. ft. and consists of two ergonomic work consoles, with easy access to hard copy resource information. There are offices on each end of the center, one each for the Director and Deputy Director. There is a small meeting area inside the Directors office, and the server room is located in the Deputy Director s office. The center staff consists of one full-time director, one deputy director, eight full-time dispatchers, and three vacant positions. The director and deputy director serve as shift supervisors and director. Technical support is provided by TopComp, Drew Wireless, OSSI, VanBelkum, Advanced Technology, and I.T. Right. Dispatchers work 12 hour shifts, with two on duty at all times. OSSI Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) is the CAD vendor for the center. Audio recording is provided by a NICE System, and time recording is provided by Netclock. Language line interpreter s service is utilized by call takers when callers who speak a different dialect need assistance.

3 3 P age Meeting with Dispatchers Dispatchers Pam Sisson and Dave Roberts were on duty during the visit. Ms. Sisson has been employed as dispatcher for 14 years, all of her experience acquired at Lake County 911. Mr. Roberts has worked for Lake County 911 for the last 7 years. The pair demonstrated how their CAD and mapping system works and how to rebid for automatic location information if it is not received properly the first time. Mr. Roberts showed the review team where hard copies of dispatch resources are stored as well as how to retrieve the resource information electronically. Ms. Sisson explained the training program for probationary employees follows that of DeWolf and Associates. The training program is a minimum of three months and no longer includes emergency medical dispatching (EMD). The dispatchers are now conferencing a caller in need of medical assistance directly with Life Ambulance, and Life Ambulance is using ProQ&A to provide the response level. Dispatchers are very happy working for LCN, and desired few changes. The entrance into the dispatch center is secure with keypad access; however, this requires dispatchers to physically get up and open the door after verifying a person s identity. Dispatchers wished for the ability to speak with visitors via intercom and potentially unlock the door by push button controls. Dispatchers would also prefer to have a restroom located in the center itself rather than down the hall, which currently creates a necessity for them to take a portable radio with them when they leave the center. Interview with Local Police and Fire and EMS The Lake County review team had the opportunity to meet with Chief Kevin Thiel of the Baldwin Fire Department and Deputy Kim Thiel of the Lake County Sheriff Department. Team member Ron Bonneau also had a supplemental meeting with Tony Sorensen, Vice President of Resource Performance for Life Ambulance on October 29, The overwhelming consensus among the group was Lake County 911 provides a good working relationship and expressed the administration is responsive to issues and prompt in resolutions. Mr. Sorensen commented that he keeps regular communication with Director Sanders through both and phone calls, and believes the skill of the dispatchers at LCN is good and they operate a very efficient communication process. Mr. Sorensen recalled an occasion of multiple 2 car personal injury crashes that were handled well by the Lake County 911 center. Chief Thiel was happy with the service provided by LCN. When questioned about any potential issues he may want to share, he remarked LCN staff is receptive with concerns or questions, and he never handled problems in a formal way, rather a casual approach with the Director. Deputy Thiel shared an incident of a suicide attempt which required a response by police, fire, and EMS, with coordination by dispatch. The cross streets provided by the map on screen in Deputy Thiel s patrol car was incorrect, and dispatch quickly took action by providing turn by turn directions, allowing a quick response to the victim. Help arrived in a timely manner and the victim survived. The problems reported by Chief Thiel and Deputy Thiel were centered on coverage. Chief Thiel explained that following the narrowbanding of the radios to the 700 MHz frequency, they have one fire department that is not able to receive their calls consistently. Deputy Thiel said the in-car computers within the patrol cars are having reception problems; particularly there is a dead zone in Irons. Lake County is primarily a retirement community, with a population of 11,000. Fluctuations from 30,000 up to 60,000 in the population can occur during the event The Blessing of the Bikes, which occurs annually during the month of May. Other activities that bring people to the area include hunting, fishing, and snowmobiling.

4 4 P age Lake County 911 Fiscal Summary Annual Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2010 $712, State 911 Fee $126, Millage Receipts $888, Annual Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2011 $888, State 911 Fee $126, Millage Receipts $887, Annual Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2012 $1,284, State 911 Fee $127, Millage Receipts $836, Local 911 Fees Lake County s local surcharge amount is $0.25 per month. State 911 Fees State 911 funds are remitted into Fund 261, and are used for training, software license fees, and equipment maintenance. Training Funds Note: This portion of the review was performed by Theresa Hart, Dispatcher Training Coordinator in the State 911 Office. See attached document. Review of Dispatcher Training Funds Lake County Central Dispatch The State 911 Office has completed the review of Lake County Central Dispatch, Dispatcher Training Fund expenditures, for the period of Attached is a copy of the spreadsheet with the specific documentation that was not provided for review. Below is an overview of what was missing and should be kept on file in the future. Several training courses included hotel stays and the receipts were not provided. General ledgers and credit card statements were provided with hotel expenses but there was no way to tell what the specific charges were and what training course they were associated with. There were some training courses where only the cost of the training program was claimed. If an employee is taking a training course online, wages can be included as well since they are attending training. It appears the EMD Concepts course (February 2010) was possibly taught by a Lake County Dispatch employee. If that is the case, Dispatcher Training Funds cannot be used for reimbursement of wages for personnel used as trainers in their own PSAP (see allowable usage of funds document). There were two course numbers on the 510 that did not correspond with the number on the receipts. It s possible the wrong course was selected on the 510 (this is noted on the spreadsheet).

5 5 P age There was one online training course attended where mileage expenses were claimed (PST1 6 th Edition-Online APCO July 2011). Your local travel policy should be followed when attending training courses. Please ensure that an online course can be charged for mileage when taken at the PSAP. There were several training courses where either no receipts were provided or they were missing the registration receipt, mileage logs, meal receipts and/or hotel receipts. In the future, the review team suggests a cover sheet be completed for each training course attended, attaching all of the expense receipts, and listing the employees attending the training (this would include the cost of their wages). If this is kept up to date as courses are attended, it should be easier to pull together the information should another training fund audit occur. A sample cover sheet document will be provided to Lake County. LCN has explained following the review, that until they were selected for the review, they had not kept expense receipts and reimbursement documentation on file with the training request forms. They adopted the recommendations regarding documentation of training records/receipts as of October 15, 2013, as to avoid any of the issues identified in this report in the future. Findings and Final Summary The services offered by LCN, and the staff members who perform these services are highly respected and valued by the emergency response departments served. LCN provides an effective 911 system and prioritizes funds appropriately according to the revenue available to them. No required actions are necessary at this time. Necessary Actions: No necessary corrective action noted at this time. Recommendations Action: Establish an updated County 911 Plan, looking to Michigan Communications Director s Association (MCDA) for a template to create the updated plan. Following the review, Mr. Sanders took immediate action and solicited an outline for updating Lake County s 911 Plan. At this time, they have passed a resolution and have a 911 hearing for the tentative plan scheduled for March 29, LCN shared the proposed resolution and tentative plan. As a whole, Lake County 911 is looking into using the unused portion of previous years surcharge funds for building a new center. In closing, based upon the documentation requested, made available to, and reviewed by the committee, Lake County and its 911 operations are functionally and fiscally in compliance with the requirements of P.A. No. 32 (as amended) at this time. Submitted on November 12, 2013, by: Mr. Ron Bonneau Mr. Tim Smith Mr. Rich Feole Ms. Amanda Kennedy *Mr. Greg Clark was unable to participate and was replaced by alternate, Mr. Rich Feole.

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