County Council is giving Batesburg-Leesville, Cayce and West Columbia another year to prepare to handle those 911 calls on their own.
“We’ll allow them time to get ready,” Council Chairman Johnny Jeffcoat of Irmo said of the delay.
Cayce and West Columbia will use the extra time to install equipment to operate independently while Batesburg-Leesville plans to have calls transferred from the county 911 center.
The agreement ends nearly a year of uncertainty after county officials pressed the three communities to merge completely into county 911 service that handles all calls for help in unincorporated areas and 11 other municipalities.
Cayce will handle calls for its police and firefighters while the other two communities will do so only for police.
County officials already handle all calls for ambulances and medical care everywhere in the 758-square mile county as well as most calls for fire protection.
It will cost Cayce and West Columbia an undetermined amount to add equipment that must be customized for each.
But officials in both municipalities say the cost is worth the faster response expected from dispatchers more familiar with local landmarks.
“Our residents will receive the same level and speed in response from our police and fire that they are accustomed to,” Cayce City Manager Rebecca Vance said.
West Columbia’s response also should be quicker, Police Chief Dennis Tyndall said.
Batesburg-Leesville is taking a different route because it can’t afford the equipment required.
Calls that come to county 911 service from the town will be transferred to its personnel to handle.
Delays stemming from the transfer will be made up by quicker recognition of where to send police, Town Manager Ted Luckadoo said.
“It won’t be detrimental,” he said. “This is our best option.”
The change is coming after county officials decided that a 21-year-old deal that allowed the communities to run 911 centers under county oversight is outdated duplication.
Overseeing management of the local centers costs more than $200,000 yearly, funds county officials want to use to improve their service.
The decision by the three communities to continue handling some calls comes as state officials start exploring consolidation of local 911 centers.
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