(KLZA)-- Following a lengthy discussion and the expression of varying opinions Monday night, the  Falls City Council approved the creation of a committee to further discuss 911 dispatching with Richardson County.

There have been several proposals between the County and City concerning combining the dispatching into a single dispatch center instead of both the  City and  County each having a dispatch center.

Despite City Administrator Gary Jorn stating he feels finances should not be part of the discussions at this time, it was apparent that several Council members including President of the Council Mitch Merz, feels differently, saying that if the County is not willing to pay their fair share, the City should be done talking. 

Richardson County stopped paying fees to the City for 911 dispatching in 2018.

Merz said the city is in good position and the only reason to form a committee is to continue to build a relationship between City and County law enforcement, so that relationship is strong. 

Ward IV Council member Derek Leyden feels the formation of a committee is a good idea. He noted that he does not like there being tension and an us versus them attitude between the City and the County. He hopes the committee will help find more common ground for the two entities.

Mayor Shawna Bindle also said she feels there is a need for a committee to oversee 911 dispatching no matter who serves at the Public Service Answering Point for emergency calls. 

Discussion included debate on how many committee members there should be.  The County had proposed 8 members total to include a resident of the City of Falls City and a person from within the County and to include City Administrator Gary Jorn and County Clerk Mary Eickhoff.  

The City proposal is to include only the Chief of Police,  a Council representative, the Richardson County Sheriff and a County Commissioner.

After about 15 minutes of discussion, a motion by Merz to create a committee to continue keep the lines of communication open, but that at this time, the city is not interested in letting go of any of the City services.  The motion was approved unanimously by the Council.  

Both the City and the County would need to make expensive upgrades to their dispatch systems if they serve as the Public Service Answering Point for Emergencies.