TOLEDO, Ohio — Lucas County residents will have to wait just a bit longer to know the future of their emergency call system.
A meeting was scheduled for Monday in which 911 Planning Committee members were expected to vote on whether to consolidate its 911 communications. On Friday, it was announced that meeting would be postponed.
The infrastructure is in place, the plans are all laid out and now it is wait-and-see as there is less than a week from finding out the answer.
"The road to the future is together, not separated," Lucas County Commissioner Gary Byers said.
One hundred seventy-eight dispatchers, along with police chiefs and elected officials, are waiting on a potential change to 911 operations.
"In order to amend that or to change it in any way, state law provides that there is an ad hoc committee that has to be called together," Byers said.
That committee will consist of five people: Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz; Lucas County Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak, a representative from Sylvania Township, since it's the second-largest jurisdiction in the county, a representative for all of the cities and villages and a representative for all of the townships.
County public safety director Matt Heyrman said based on the feedback he has received, he expects a thumbs-up come Monday.
"A vast majority of people are supportive," Heyrman said. "Consolidation is something that's going on all throughout the country. It's occurring because people are realizing that it's safer, more efficient and more effective to be done that way."
The move won't come without controversy, though.
Byers said the plan, which has been in the works for nearly a year, should alleviate some stress for current emergency employees.
"Everyone that's currently a dispatcher will be offered a job in the new entity," Byers promised.
"The county commissioners are in firm belief that we should always strive to have a better and more effective and efficient government," Heyrman said. "So this is both of those things. It's one of those rare hybrids that occurs where we get a higher level of service for a lower cost."
If the ad hoc committee approves the proposal, Heyrman said the next step is to create another committee consisting of representatives from every jurisdiction in Lucas County.
At that point, the transition would begin.
Leaders estimate it could take about a year to implement the new 911 system, but callers shouldn't expect to hear any fuss, but rather a helping hand on the other side.