The Northwest Union Dispatch Center is inching closer to becoming a reality.

The plan is for a new joint dispatch center to be built in New Providence that would dispatch police, fire and emergency medical services for the borough, Summit and Berkeley Heights.

The two key elements driving the investigation into such a proposal are a forthcoming need to upgrade all of the communications equipment in September 2011 when Verizon will no longer recognize the equipment currently being used, and the predicted cost savings from such a shared services venture.

Currently each municipality operates it's own dispatch with the Summit fire department operating the main public safety dispatch center for the city and the police department also operating their own dispatch center.

Summit fire also brings an additional component to the discussion because of its existing automatic aid agreement with the Millburn Fire Department, something officials say will not only not be jeopardized but rather would be enhanced.

"We'd like to incorporate that service into this shared dispatch," said New Providence Borough Administrator Doug Marvin. "As for the exact details of that, we haven't ironed those out yet."

Summit City Administrator Chris Cotter said since all three municipalities passed resolutions expressing their support for this venture in June, the next step is to hire a consultant to outline how to bring this idea to reality, including what existing equipment can be salvaged, what new needs to be purchased and the what site upgrades will be required to build the dispatch center at the former New Providence Rescue Squad Facility, located in the borough's Municipal Center on Elkwood Avenue.

"This is the real step," Cotter said.

Marvin said a request for proposals was sent out the week before Thanksgiving to hire a professional service.

"Those are due back at the end of December," Marvin said. "Once we have an idea of what it's going to cost to hire this company to put all this information together, we'll go back to the governing bodies and ask for their support. The working group will meet again, review the proposals, interview candidates and determine our next steps."

While neither the full start up costs nor the initial and long-term cost savings are known, officials say the operating expenses for the joint dispatch center would be divided per capita for each municipality: roughly $13,000 for Berkeley Heights, $12,000 for New Providence and $21,000 in Summit.

In total, the three communities could save $662,000 in dispatching personnel costs before salary and benefits. The savings for the equipment upgrades alone could be anywhere from $185,863.52 to $215,325.33 depending on the system chosen.

Summit Police Chief Robert Lucid said each municipality would remain responsible for the rest of its own radio equipment.

Cotter said it is likely the dispatch center could be up and running in November 2011.

–New Providence Patch Editor Caitlin Mahon contributed to this report.