Then-interim police Chief Bill Bonney confers in March with dispatcher Sarah Batteese at the dispatch center at the Waterville Police Station at 10 Colby St. A bill that passed Monday in the Maine Senate means Waterville will likely become a regional emergency communications center. Bonney, who had been Waterville’s interim police chief since December, was named chief Monday. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel file
The Waterville Police Department expects to again dispatch emergency 911 calls for a broader region after the Maine Senate voted unanimously Monday to pass a bill to create another public safety answering point, or PSAP.
The 33-0 vote in the Senate was conducted with no discussion and finalized the measure. The bill now goes to Gov. Janet Mills, who has 10 days to sign it, veto it, or allow it to become law without her signature. As an emergency measure, the bill would take effect immediately upon becoming law.
State Sen. David LaFountain, D-Winslow, who sponsored the bill with state Sen. Craig Hickman, D-Hallowell, said after the vote he was pleased the legislation passed quickly.
Waterville city officials announced in March they were exploring the idea of having the Waterville Regional Communications Center become a PSAP again because Somerset County plans to stop taking 911 calls for 16 communities in Kennebec County at the end of this month.
When someone calls 911, the call is routed to the Somerset PSAP. Somerset sends the call to the appropriate dispatch center, which then contacts the relevant agency, such as police, fire or ambulance.
Waterville was a PSAP until the state changed the configuration years ago. The Somerset PSAP handles 911 calls for all of Somerset County and the 16 Kennebec County communities, including Waterville.
“Somerset County did a good job to provide services,” said LaFountain, whose Senate district includes Albion, Fairfield, Oakland, Winslow and Waterville. “We obviously chose Somerset over the other options because they did provide good service.”
The state Public Utilities Commission created the bill, L.D. 1828, and its language, LaFountain said.
LaFountain, who is a former Waterville fire chief, said having local dispatchers who know the area and are longtime employees will help ensure reliable service.
Waterville police Chief Bill Bonney, who had been interim police chief since December, but was named chief Monday, said steps are being taken to make Waterville a PSAP. Now that the bill has passed, the city can enter into contract negotiations with customer towns, install equipment at the dispatch center and finalize contracts.
The nine communities for which Waterville dispatches are Albion, Belgrade, China, Clinton, Oakland, Rome, Sidney, Waterville and Winslow. Waterville dispatches police and fire for Clinton, Waterville and Winslow, and only fire and EMS for the other towns.
“Our goal is to provide our dispatch customers with PSAP services also,” Bonney said.
Acting Waterville City Manager Bill Post said Monday the municipal budget the City Council approved last week includes funding for the city to become a PSAP. The council must take another vote to finalize the budget, which includes a new dispatcher position, according to Bonney.
Post said being a PSAP is not expected to cost the city additional money. He said the city has been working with the Maine Department of Public Safety on the effort.
Bonney issued a document to city officials in March that outlines the history of the PSAP issue and why having one again would benefit the city and area communities.
Waterville was a PSAP for many years — until 2007 — and received 911 calls from Oakland, Waterville, Winslow and Delta Ambulance. Receiving 911 calls directly allowed dispatchers familiar with the region to dispatch the correct service quickly and efficiently to an emergency, according to Bonney.
A state law was enacted in 2003 that led to a reduction in the number of PSAPs from 48 to between 16 and 24. Waterville and the communities for which it dispatched fought the recommendation that Kennebec County have only one PSAP, according to Bonney.
The PUC in 2007 ordered all 911 calls made in Oakland, Waterville and Winslow be routed to the Central Maine Regional Communications Center in Augusta, the only authorized PSAP in Kennebec County. Waterville, however, chose to go with Somerset County’s PSAP.
Waterville has been a staple in regional emergency communications for 50 years and is expected to lead in the area, Bonney wrote in his document to city officials. Being a PSAP again would reduce fragmentation of the city’s 911 calls created by the original consolidation, he said.
For instance, when Waterville was a PSAP, a call was handled by one person who took a caller’s name, address, telephone number and the nature of the emergency. With the change in the PSAP system, the caller was transferred to another center that collected the same information, but help was not dispatched until the process was completed.
Waterville is the only dispatch center in Kennebec County to retain emergency medical dispatch and emergency fire dispatch functions, which are a staple of PSAP services, according to Bonney.
More than 50% of the 42,463 911 calls Somerset County handled in 2022 were from Kennebec County, and 7,515 came from Waterville alone, according to information provided by the Somerset County PSAP.
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