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911 consolidation vote expected Wednesday despite disagreements

Toledo City Council postponed the vote for Tuesday two weeks ago.

TOLEDO, Ohio — A big vote approving 911 consolidation in Lucas County is getting close after more than a year of discussions.

"We spent 40 years of hostility over water, we reach an agreement, everybody says this is historic, this is great, what did we learn? We're going right back into hostility because they're trying to force this on us," Maumee Mayor Richard Carr said.

The Lucas County Commissioners have already approved 911 consolidation which would move all area dispatchers into one central location in Toledo. 

Carr is opposed and says he's not the only one.

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"I think that what's being proposed and what's being voted on by Toledo City Council and has already been voted on by the Lucas County Board of Commissioners is something that's been discussed for 14 months, so the structure in the council of governments agreement is delineated is exactly the structure we've been talking about the whole time," Deputy County Administrator Matt Heyrman said. 

Heyrman, who has been in charge of the project through the county since the beginning, has a different impression of the satiation, saying Mayor Carr's issue with the fire and police chief being board members for the project is one of the things that helped get communities to agree to the program. 

Carr likens the decision to running a business.

"I've practiced law for 36 years, I've never heard of a business that turns over everything to the employees. That's not how this works," Carr said.

Toledo City Council was slated to vote on the agreement two weeks ago but held off for a meeting meant for every group involved to talk one more time, something that happened last week.

"We definitely think over the last 14 months the communities have learned more about 911, we've learned more about their needs, I would say over the last 14 months, everyone has learned more about 911 and the ways it impacts each individual community," Heyrman said.

Mayor Carr would like to see the issue put on hold and discussed further because if Toledo City Council votes in favor, the consolidation begins.

"In Maumee, we've considered it a hostile takeover of our dispatch services which we did not want to give up, but that's not the point. Now were saying okay, if we're going to set this up, do it the right way," Carr said.

Toledo City Council is expected to vote Tuesday. There is another meeting for all municipalities scheduled for next Thursday. 

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