Lewis County commissioners plan to ask Thurston 911 Communications for formal permission to study the feasibility of merging operations, the latest step in a long-running process that will determine the future of 911 service in the region.
“This letter is to formally request that the TCOMM Administration Board allow TCOMM staff and Lewis County staff to be allowed to continue these discussions and study the feasibility of regionalization of 911 Communications services between our two counties,” reads the draft of a letter that Lewis County commissioners plan to finalize and send to Thurston 911 Communications.
The request follows informal discussion between the county and TCOMM, a nonprofit agency. Last year, police and fire leaders in Centralia and Chehalis met with TCOMM exploring a partnership of their own, amid ongoing dissatisfaction with 911 services in Lewis County. Since then, the 30 or so first response agencies that partner with Lewis County for 911 service have urged the county to continue talking with TCOMM.