Hamilton budgeting $31.7M for ‘next-generation’ 911 service
The city is planning a $31.7-million overhaul of Hamilton buildings to make the leap from analogue to next-generation" 911 service.
Emergency services aim to have the revamped dispatching system operational by March 2024 to accommodate the federally mandated modernization plan.
In addition to phone calls, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission expects next-generation 911 to handle digital communication, such as text messages and videos.
Getting ready for the big switchover, which Bell aims to make in March 2025, involves an upgrade and shuffling of Hamilton's existing 911 system.
There's a lot of moving parts to this," Delfina Duarte, the city's manager of facilities planning and business solutions, told The Spectator.
Of the overall tab, $24 million would be used for capital upgrades, including creating space for data centres, offices, lockers and other amenities at the Stoney Creek Municipal Service Centre on Highway 8.
It would also revamp the central police station on King William Street and make changes to the Multi Agency Training Centre (MATC) on Stone Church Road East.
Moreover, staff anticipate the needed technological boost will cost $7.7 million, council heard during capital budget talks this week.
Police plan to make an initial budget request for four more full-timers, and eventually eight total, to staff the upgraded 911 service. The firefighter contingent is expected to remain at six.
Currently, the central police station serves as the service's 911 hub while fire calls are handled at the MATC. As well, each has backup locations in case of bug-outs" like power outages.
For police, it's a floor at the MATC and for firefighters, a station on Upper Sherman Avenue.
The Ontario government oversees paramedic 911 calls at a building on Fennell Avenue West near St. Joseph's West 5th campus. The province is updating its next-generation capacity independently.
The city's initial plan for modernized emergency dispatching involved a two-site model, but staff opted for the three locations as an interim solution, Duarte noted.
The MATC was eyed as a main site but it was ruled out for the time being due to an expected space crunch with existing functions in the building, she said.
So it's cost prohibitive. There's just not enough room in that building. We'd be looking at either a new building or something that is far more expensive."
The renovated Stoney Creek centre is the other half of the aspirational two-site solution, but for the more immediate term, is part of the temporary three-site plan.
It's important to maintain service counters and meeting space at the old Stoney Creek city hall as the next-generation 911 project unfolds, Coun. Jeff Beattie said.
People come from all around to use the Stoney Creek Municipal Centre."
The city is pursuing a partnership with the public library branch to maintain municipal services on-site and considering the nearby Saltfleet Community Centre for community space.
The roughly 50-year-old central police station, meanwhile, doesn't enter the long-term 911 horizon due to its mounting capital needs, Chief Frank Bergen told council.
I can't, as chief of police, recommend putting good money towards that," said Bergen, citing tens of millions in work to bring the station up to snuff.
A 2022 feasibility study pegged upgrades to the central and east-end stations at $49 million or $83 million, depending on the degree of refurbishment.
Police ultimately hope to colocate" with the fire department and potentially other services in a future campus, he said.
Staff plan to report back on the next-generation 911 project when council resumes deliberations on the city's proposed $285.7-million capital budget for 2023 in January.
Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com