City sounds off on ongoing dispatch debate

After months of silence over the ongoing dispatch battle between the city of Newcastle and Weston County — aside from an occasional letter to county officials — the city addressed the issue publicly during the council’s Feb. 6 meeting. Several council members and Mayor Pam Gualtieri highlighted various public perceptions that they deemed false, while addressing other concerns that city leaders had expressed to their counterparts with the county. 
 
“I want to put out our word on some things we are hearing,” Gualtieri said. 
 
The mayor then stated that the Newcastle Police Department is not refusing to move the police and dispatch operation to the newly renovated space at City Hall. 
 
“We were delayed,” she said. 
 
According to Gualtieri, there were  issues with an agreement, for the 50 pair wire that was delayed by the county attorney, between the city and county that held up the move, but  she claimed that issue was being resolved. She noted that when the city was approached about moving evidence from storage at the Weston County Law Enforcement Center, the new police chief, Chuck Bowles, was not in town. He is now working on an audit of the evidence before it is moved, she said. 
 
Dispatch fees charged by the city have also been issue. Gualtieri said that the County Commission was given 60 days’ notice of the change in billing. She noted, however, that the city had made some calculation errors for the month of December and planned to correct the mistake. 
 
As reported by the News Letter Journal in its Feb. 2 edition, the county was disputing an increase in the dispatch bill. The commissioners agreed to pay the customary $9,000 for two months, instead of the $11,000 charged by the city for the period. 
 
City Clerk-Treasurer Stacy Haggerty reported during the meeting that the billing error resulted in an additional $521.81 being charged to the county for dispatch services. Gualtieri noted that the bill would be adjusted. 
 
“Some of the other stuff was that we weren’t being transparent, but we were,” Gualtieri said, noting that there was either a lack of communication or a miscommunication between county officials and the commissioners. 
 
Specifically, Gualtieri said that the city had not threatened to turn off the county’s utilities and that the city had hand delivered the invoice to avoid delays. 
 
“We receive one big check for everything, and they pay almost two months behind, unfortunately,” Haggerty said, adding that late payments are in violation of the city ordinance, which allows payments to be 45 days late before shutoff occurs. 
 
Councilman Don Steveson stated that he believes there have been falsehoods presented to the commissioners from both Sheriff Bryan Colvard and Weston County’s emergency management coordinator Gilbert Nelson. He did acknowledge that the city had not been the best about telling its side of the story during meetings. 
 
“It gets irritating, and it comes back to the city’s fault,” Steveson said. “They won’t respond, but they put it in the paper. It gets irritating that they (Colvard and Nelson) feed false information to the commissioners, and the documentation is not correct.” 
 
Councilman Tyrel Owens stated that the county has claimed it did not have a contract for services with the city. He said, however, that the city had prepared a contract that was presented to the commissioners. He said that the County Commission never responded with a counteroffer to keep the conversation moving. 
 
“It is called communication, and it has been sorely lacking between the two entities for some time,” Owens said. 
 
“I don’t think two dispatches is the answer to any problem … . Newcastle is part of the county, and I think we need to get this figured out,” he continued, noting that some dialogue and positive interaction between the city and county is needed. 
 
Gualtieri said that the council would work with the county to schedule a joint meeting to discuss dispatch. At this time, no official date and time have been set for the meeting. 
 
“Since we haven’t been as vocal on why we are making decisions, it casts the council in a negative light. The more vocal entity is telling their side, and we have been quiet. It feels good to clear the air a bit,” Owens concluded.