The fate of Martins Ferry's city 911 service and its dispatchers may be decided today.
City Council's Finance Committee met Saturday to come up with a plan to trim roughly $154,000 from the budget. One option to be presented to council tonight includes the elimination of the city's dispatchers and a return to relying on dispatching services provided by Belmont County 911.
Mayor Phil Wallace, Safety/ Service Director John Davies and members of the city's fire and police departments have expressed a desire to keep dispatchers working at the city building. But in the event that is fiscally impossible, the county may have to assume command of city 911 calls.
If that's the case, Belmont County 911 Director Robin Marshall wants to assure residents of Martins Ferry that their needs will be met. She said she has the staff already in place to meet the influx of calls.
''We are well-staffed here,'' Marshall said. ''I have part-time employees I can bring in and convert to full time, and that is covered under our budget for this year. There had been earlier talk about the possibility of this happening, so we went ahead and prepared the budget just in case.''
Marshall also said police officers and other first responders will be able to keep mobile communications equipment, including all fire department and police pagers. The base radio at the police department would also stay in place.
''We don't take those back,'' she said of the items purchased by county 911. ''We would never take communications.''
Marshall said the county uses an 800-megahertz radio system, the same one the Ohio State Highway Patrol and Jefferson County and Ohio County 911 use.
''If a Ferry police officer would need to talk to a state patrolman, we could patch that over so they could talk one-on-one,'' she noted.
Marshall said she has offered 911's service to Wallace and said she would attend a City Council meeting to answer questions. She also has invited the city's firefighters and police officers to stop at the 911 office to see how the system works.
One concern of proponents of retaining the dispatchers in the city has been their knowledge of city landmarks and its layout.
But Marshall believes the county's system is more than adequate at helping first responders get to the right location in a timely fashion. She doesn't believe knowledge of the city will be an issue at all.
''We have county mapping,'' Marshall said. ''Whenever a call comes in, it goes directly to that house on our map. We can give cross streets and directions and, as far as dispatchers not living there and knowing the area, I have three Martins Ferry residents that work here.''
The city also could have an arrangement similar to those used in Barnesville, Shadyside and Bridgeport.
All three villages have turned 911 calls over to the county, but they still retain their in-house, seven-digit number for use on daytime and evening shifts.
For the midnight shift, that number is also answered by Belmont County 911. Many residents in Martins Ferry still call 740-633-2121 to reach the police department as opposed to dialing 911.