Representatives from Summit, New Providence and Berkeley Heights met to discuss the possibility of creating a joint dispatch center for the three towns Wednesday night.

Administrators and police chiefs from all three towns, as well as Chief Joseph Houck, presented their research on this concept and their initial proposal to build what would be called the Northwest Union Dispatch Center.

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.

"We think overall it's going to be best for the residents of our three towns," said New Providence Mayor John Thoms.

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 , something officials say will not only not be jeopardized but rather would be enhanced.

"So I think this shared service and the perspective we have in Summit really helps us know that this can work," Houck said. "And I think these three communities are ready to move forward.

Houck said he fully expects Millburn to be a client of the new dispatch center if it is created however does not yet know how much the servies would cost Millburn.

While all of the details of the proposal are not worked out, officials say they would create a Joint Meeting to govern the dispatch center which would physically exist in the former New Providence Rescue Squard Facility on Elkwood Avenue.

While neither the full start up costs nor the initial and longterm 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.

However, several audience members asked if down the road the operating costs could be calculated based on call volume per municipality not population.

The joint dispatch would result in a net reduction in personnel among the three municiaplities of five dispatching positions but would alleviate the need for uniformed police officers and fire fighters to fill in shifts when dispatchers need to take a break, call in sick or go on vacation. The Summit Fire Department currently spends $170,000 on dispatch costs while the spends $202,000 before salary and benefits.

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 will remain responsibility for the rest of its own radio equipment.

However, the municipalities are investigating grants to help with the initial start up costs to create the joint dispatch center, including the Emergency Operations Center Grant Program.

In order to move forward, each municipality needs to pass a resolution expressing its support for the project, then the committee can firm up hard numbers for costs per town and then the governing bodies would have to pass resolutions of committment.