Cedarburg officials are exploring the possibility of outsourcing its emergency dispatch services to the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office.
With Grafton transferring to county dispatch last year, Cedarburg and Mequon are the last remaining Ozaukee County communities to still provide their own full-time emergency dispatchers. Thiensville provides its own dispatch on a part-time basis.
Municipal dispatchers in Cedarburg, Mequon and Thiensville answer calls made from landline phones in their respective community. Calls made from cell phones are automatically directed to the county dispatch center in Port Washington.
Cedarburg's 13-year-old dispatch system, however, is obsolete and no longer in production, said Police Chief Thomas Frank.
Instead of paying $140,000 for a new dispatch system, Frank has requested the common council purchase $84,000 worth of equipment that would provide Cedarburg dispatchers with remote access to the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office's dispatch system.