NORTH CANTON ‒ The city is moving forward with a reorganization of its emergency dispatching more than a month after residents told council they wanted the city to keep its dispatch center.
Under the new ordinance passed Monday, dispatchers will report to city administrators rather than the police chief, and the number of dispatchers will be cut by attrition from nine to seven to help save about $300,000 a year.
In an analysis, Ben Young, deputy director of administration, wrote that the cost of salaries and benefits for one dispatcher averaged nearly $111,000 a year.
The savings in cutting the two dispatch jobs is about $250,000 a year with overtime factored in. Young anticipates increased use of part-time dispatchers and scheduling changes mean less need to work more than their standard work week. That would save another $50,000 a year in overtime pay.
In July, with attendees at a meeting nearly all opposed to outsourcing the city's dispatching, council voted to table a bill to switch to the Regional Emergency Dispatch Center, which handles 911 and other calls for numerous police and fire agencies in Stark.
Related: North Canton reaches tentative agreement with firefighters union to add more staff
Council Member David Metheney, Ward 2, who voted against the downsizing measure, said the changes mean that each of the three shifts would have two dispatchers on duty. If one is on vacation and no part-time dispatcher can fill in, then the other dispatcher would be on their own. That could lead to possible service delays if the dispatcher is handling an emergency call when someone else calls.
Related: North Canton council opts not to end city police and fire dispatching center
Metheney said if the city had switched to the RED Center, this wouldn't happen as the larger number of dispatchers at the RED Center could fill in if two or more simultaneous emergency calls came in from North Canton.
"By cutting staffing, I don't think they (the residents are) getting what they said they wanted," he said. "By cutting the staff, you're cutting services."
North Canton looking for Civic Center manager
Council has agreed to seek an event manager to oversee renting out the Civic Center for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and other events.
Director of Administration Catherine Farina said managing the event center takes time away from staff who are busy with other tasks.
"The way it was before was, 'Here are the keys. Have a nice party,'" she said, adding that fights would break out at weddings and participants would damage the building. That led to the prior director of administration, Patrick DeOrio, suspending Civic Center rentals for weddings. Farina hopes an event manager can more effectively oversee the process so the city can earn rental revenue without damage to the building.
Andrea Legg, director of the North Canton Public Library, expressed concern to council Monday about language in the draft requests for proposals that would apparently allow an event manager to charge fees for the library to use the Civic Center for its free senior programming. She called on council to make it clear the library would have free use of the Civic Center for 58 senior programs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She said this year 3,000 seniors have taken part. The library, which spends about $31,000 a year to provide the programs, began senior programming in the Civic Center ballroom in July 2022.
A couple of members of council seemed open to changing the request for proposals language. But Council member Stephenie Werren, At-Large, said council shouldn't micromanage the administration in drafting the request for proposal. And council agreed, authorizing the administration to move forward.
North Canton eyes manager for Arrowhead Golf Club & Banquet Center
Council also authorized the city administration to issue requests for proposals for a manager for the city-owner Arrowhead Golf Club and Banquet Center.
Steve DiPietro's company became Arrowhead's manager in 2019 and its five-year contract is up at the end of this year. DiPietro owns Papa Bears restaurant and the Pizza Oven chain. For years, he owned and operated the Skyland Pines Golf Club, which closed in 2021 and became the site of an Amazon warehouse , which opened in 2023 .
A couple of council members said DiPietro's company has done a good job managing Arrowhead.
"We're doing our due diligence seeing what's out there," said Council member Jamie McCleaster, Ward 1.
Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. X formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: North Canton reorganizes 911 dispatching center into new department, approves job cuts
Local News
