November 12, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 Midland Park Town to sign on with county for dispatch service In an about face from just two months ago, the Midland Park Council decided last week to sign on with the Bergen County Public Safety Operating Center in Mahwah as of Jan. 1. The formal contract is expected to be approved this week and will include Emergency 9-1-1 service, now provided by Paramus. Mayor Patrick “Bud’ O’Hagan said that “technical problems” had come up to change the council’s mind about switching to Northwest Bergen Central Dispatch in Ridgewood as anticipated earlier this fall. The borough has been under contract with Wyckoff for dispatch service since 1998, but that arrangement was not renewed and will end on Dec. 31. Wyckoff has signed on with Bergen County PSOC as well. Walk to remember Mill Gardens Assisted Living in Midland Park recently participated in ‘The Walk to End Alzheimer’s’ at Bergen Community College. Team members from each department sup- ported the event. “After much deliberation regarding two very professional, well-run organizations for the service of dispatching, the Bor- ough of Midland Park has decided to form an alliance with Bergen County Public Safety Operating Center in Mahwah,” Borough Administrator Addie Hanna said in a prepared statement. She and the mayor declined further comment until the contract is signed. They said, however, that the borough’s emergency services person- nel had toured the facility and communi- cated with current users and unanimously supported the change. O’Hagan said that based on the draft agreement with Bergen Dispatch, the interlocal services agreement would cost the borough substantially under $200,000 a year, including connection fees. The ser- vice would include dispatch of all emer- gency and non-emergency units, including the DPW as needed, Emergency 9-1-1 ser- vice and many other enhancements made possible by the center’s up-to-date, sophis- ticated software and equipment and public safety network. Central Dispatch’s proposal, which did not include connection or start-up costs, would have cost the borough $235,000 a year during the five-year term of the con- tract, plus annual increases not to exceed 5 percent in any given year to offset increases in operating costs. Wyckoff’s current charge is $280,012 a year, but the township had offered to reduce the fee to $260,000 with 3 percent annual increases under a new five-year contract. Bergen County Public Safety Operat- ing Center, located at the county’s police, fire and EMS training facility in Mahwah, opened in June, 2010. Since then it has become a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for 20 municipalities (none in Northwest Bergen) for a total of just under (continued on page 18)