Copyright Chicago Tribune
The Porter County Board of Commissioners gave unanimous approval at its meeting Tuesday morning for the formation of an advisory committee aimed at improving operational efficiency between the county’s E911 operations and the Porter/Chesterton Dispatch Center that serves the towns of Chesterton and Porter. E911 Director Debby Gunn suggested the committee should include: the county attorney, a commissioner, the public safety answering point director, a fire and police chief from either Chesterton or Porter, a representative from the Duneland School Corporation, Porter County Sheriff Jeff Balon or his designee, and the statewide PSAP director, who would be a non-voting member. There has been renewed scrutiny on the working relationship between the county’s E911 center and the Porter/Chesterton Dispatch Center following an officer-involved shooting on June 18 outside the Hilton Garden Inn in the 500 block of Gateway Boulevard in Chesterton. Gunn and Biggs called, in the aftermath of the shooting that left an officer seriously wounded and a suspect dead, for the two towns to join the county dispatch consortium. The towns staunchly held to their intent to maintain an independent dispatch center and relations took some time to normalize. “I think it’s also healthy we’re communicating on a regular basis to other municipalities as it relates to first responder dispatch,” said Biggs Tuesday. “I can’t see that anything but good could come out of it.” “Again, I just want to reiterate, Chesterton and Porter have maintained they do not want to consolidate,” Gunn said. “This is not an effort to do so.” Gunn said state statute requires the counties and the Porter/Chesterton Dispatch Center to develop a memorandum of understanding, and that should be the first order of business for any new committee, followed by a planned procedure for a potential mass casualty incident, such as a school shooting. In other business, the board voted unanimously on first reading to add a section to the Porter County Code regarding containment of refuse during transport. The issue was addressed after Biggs expressed concern that garbage was flying out the top of garbage trucks as they drove down the highway. Commissioner Barb Regnitz, R-Center, had pointed out there was a problem with citizen drivers tossing garbage out their vehicle windows as well. County Attorney Scott McClure clarified the ordinance “is not garbage haulers-specific,” and seeks “to make sure that we don’t have things leaving that vehicle and that we have a way to enforce it.” The commissioners also voted unanimously to adopt a resolution establishing a policy to accept voluntary donations of parcels to the county. The policy was established with parcels that have no resale value, such as those that are literally underwater. “Ultimately, the commissioners are going to have to accept each piece of property one at a time,” said McClure, who clarified that the acceptance of the donation would be at the discretion of the board at a public meeting. The board also voted unanimously to raise the county’s veterans’ burial stipend to $300. Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
