KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — It was 30-years in the making and last night the green light finally lit for the Kalamazoo Consolidated Dispatch Center.
The project got the final approval it needed on a new funding strategy to pay the bills, after voters rejected the idea of a surcharge on phone lines last fall.
Kalamazoo City Commissioners, unanimously and without debate, approved using funding they are currently spending on dispatch operations to combine the five dispatch centers at one facility on Stadium Drive, during a special meeting they held in Hayes Park last night.
All the other units have already approved the five year funding strategy.
Dispatch Director Jeff Troyer says now they can begin putting it all together.
In the end they hope to move from an analog system to a digital system, provide faster response times to emergencies, and save money.
The Kalamazoo City Commission took their show on the road last night, facilitated by the Parks Department, pitching a big tent in the middle of Hayes Park off Miller Road.
While they declared it a success, it only drew a few people to the park.
Parks Director Sean Fletcher says he would like to do it once a year. .
City Officials were reluctant to say how much it cost.
