Provided photo Photo Houghton County Sheriff’s Office The Houghton County 911 coordinator is responsible for implementation, management, and operation of the Houghton County 911 as a backup for Negaunee Regional Communications Center.

HOUGHTON – The Houghton County Board of Commissioners will review a five-year contract renewal recommendation for 911 dispatch services with the Negaunee Regional Communications Center (NRCC).

Houghton County Undersheriff John Giachino said the E911 plan has to be updated every five years. This year, he said, there are some minor changes to the plan for fire and police.

“We just wanted some clarification to the contract on what services they’re going to give Houghton County and what they’re not, so everybody is on the same page,” Giachino said. “Once we worked through the contract, I presented to our advisory board and the advisory board recommended it be presented to the county board for final approval.”

Under the agreement, Michigan State Police will continue to operate as the primary public safety answering point (PSAP) for the Houghton County 911 Service District. The purpose of the agreement is to establish and define the rights and obligations of the parties regarding the designation of the Negaunee Regional Communication Center as the county’s PSAP.

“Right now, our contract is up in September,” Giachino said, “and we want to continue our dispatching through Negaunee Regional.”

According to the proposed agreement, MSP will provide dispatching services for state police, sheriff’s department and other public safety agencies within the district that utilize the NRCC upon the effective date of the agreement. Any additional public safety agencies with the county that wish to be added later will be considered, depending on the dispatch method available to those agencies and the compatibility of those methods with the NRCC operation.

Houghton County, in turn, will maintain the Master Street Address Guide and provide digital maps which,0 at a minimum, include street names, the range of address numbers on each street, the names of each community in the service district, and emergency zone of each service user. Updated maps shall be provided at least annually and in a format compatible with the equipment used by the MSP.

In the event of a significant change to those costs attributable to the operation of MSP, RCC, NRCC as Houghton County’s Primary PSAP, the parties may mutually agree in writing to adjustments to the schedule of dispatch fees.

Houghton County’s 911 emergency services are primarily funded though monthly surcharges added to user bills. Currently, the county surcharge is $1.10 per line, in addition to an 80¢ state technical charge and a $0.02 state prepaid charge, totaling $1.92

These surcharge revenues are strictly earmarked by state law under the Emergency 9-1-1 Service Enabling Act to support the county’s emergency dispatch. Local and state 911 surcharge funds are legally restricted and may only be spent for explicit 911 emergency communication purposes.

Giachino said Houghton County the agreement with Negaunee Regional dates back some 20 years.

Houghton county officially transferred its 911 emergency dispatch services from the Laurium call center to Negaunee Regional Dispatch Center on Jan. 1, 2005. Since the transition, all initial 911 calls made within Houghton County route directly to Negaunee. The switch consolidated local emergency call-taking into the larger, state-operational hub in Negaunee to leverage modernized infrastructure and cost-sharing advantages. The Houghton County Sheriff’s Office maintains a local administrative presence and functions as the secondary backup Public Safety Answering Point.