TOLEDO, Ohio — There was a heated discussion between a dozen municipalities in Lucas County on Thursday on the best way to keep you safe with the new 911 consolidation plan.
There are 21 municipalities involved in the agreement; the biggest concerns are coming from the area's smaller villages and townships.
"It would be like turning the decision to go to war over to the troops that are actually fighting it," Springfield Township trustee Andy Glenn said.
That's how Glenn describes the leadership model for 911 consolidation currently. There would be seven police and fire chiefs making the final decisions.
He and some other municipalities would like to see administrative officers like local mayors in charge.
"And we're not comfortable giving that full authority on how those tax dollars are used to a seven-member committee," Glenn said.
Matt Heyrman, who has been in charge of the consolidation project, says that's not what's happening, since every single one of the 21-member communities would have representation when it comes to making the budget.
"It's a proposal that shares power among jurisdictions, rests day-to-day control with the people who know it best, which is police and fire chiefs and still leaves fiscal authority where it belongs, with elected officials and chief administrators," Heyrman said.
Six municipalities: Lucas County, Toledo, Ottawa Hills, Monclova, Sylvania and Sylvania Township have already passed Heyrman's proposal, so he believes this new idea out of Springfield Township is coming in too late and comes from a place of misunderstanding.
"We're still going to continue, whether they sign on to the agreement, we're going to give them power, organization and say in the agreement because we believe they deserve it," Heyrman said.
Glenn believes there's a chance to get 11 out of the 21 communities on board with Springfield Township's plan, which would send the agreement back to the planning committee to vote on the changes.
"It's going to give the communities a choice. They can either pass the county proposal or they can pass our alternative proposal, but at least they'll have a choice," Glenn said.
The next step is for the municipalities to bring back the alternative proposal to their communities and discuss whether or not they want to try to overturn the current agreement.