City studies police call center Tavares officials cite growth and better service as reasons to create their own communications service

TAVARES -- It's the largest city in Lake County without its own police dispatching services, but officials hope that will not be the case much longer.

Tavares wants to open a communications center next year at the police station in City Hall with dispatchers staffing the phones -- and the public window -- at all hours of the day.

"When you don't have a dispatch center, after business hours everything kind of shuts down," police Chief Stoney Lubins said.

So Lubins and several elected officials are pushing to hire eight experienced public-safety dispatchers instead of renewing the city's $180,000 contract for communications service through the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Lubins said it's not because he is unhappy with that service, but wants to expand the city's services to match the needs of its growing population.

Records show that during the past five years, 911 calls from Tavares have more than doubled -- from 11,000 to 24,000.

City officials discussed the dispatching proposal during the City Council meeting Wednesday.

Initially the idea was to hire several people to work the department's front desk after 5 p.m., Lubins said.

But "it's better bang for the buck" to operate a citywide dispatch than to pay for receptionists and outsource dispatchers, he said.

The cost of hiring the new employees and operating the center is estimated at $250,000 -- about $70,000 more than the city pays for the Sheriff's Office dispatch service, Lubins said. He isn't sure where the extra cash would come from -- a reserve fund or tax dollars.

"It will ultimately cost more, but at what savings do we want to sacrifice service?" he asked.

The proposed dispatch center could become a "hub of communication" for the city and a way for departments to talk with one another, Mayor Nancy Clutts said.

"It looks like something that would benefit the city in more ways than one," she said.

Clutts said that on occasion she has seen residents at the police station after hours using a phone outside to call for help.

"It's been the whole gamut of problems," she said. "People who wouldn't necessarily call 911, some in abusive situations."

Tavares calls now go through the Sheriff's Office communications center, which also dispatches for Umatilla, Astatula, Fruitland Park, Minneola and Mascotte, said Maureen Hatcher, the sheriff's director of communications.

Lubins also said he would like the city to budget for two more full-time officers next year, bringing the total to 30.

"We truly do need them if you compare us with Eustis and Mount Dora," he said.