YOUNGSTOWN — The council of governments that supervises the 911 call system for Poland, Boardman and Austintown police and other Mahoning County departments has addressed concerns from Poland Township officials about their residents’ police and fire calls being shipped to two dispatching services.

Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene said the panel had come to a “temporary solution” allowing fire and medical calls coming from both Poland Township and Poland Village to be dispatched out of Austintown.

Greene, a member of the three-person council discussing the issue Tuesday evening, cautioned that this arrangement will be temporary until the Boardman dispatch center trains more personnel and other financial issues are addressed.

“We will switch back to Boardman when they are better able to handle the situation,” Greene said.

Audrey Tillis, Mahoning County administrator, said commissioners don’t need to vote to approve what the COG decided on Tuesday night, but she will talk to commissioners about the issue in an executive session today.

“What the council decided will stand,” Tillis said.

BACKGROUND

In mid-June, Poland Township officials addressed their concerns to county commissioners about fire and medical calls being dispatched out of Boardman and police calls being handled in Austintown.

Greene said the concerns centered around medical calls being eventually flipped to the Austintown center before they are dispatched. At the time, officials were asked to be patient while the improvements are worked out.

Poland Township Trustee Eric Ungaro stated he is pleased with the COG decision.

“It was a good day,” Ungaro said. “Sheriff Greene and chiefs from Austintown and Boardman were great. This is an excellent plan, and they were on point on what their plan is moving forward.”

Ungaro said he has been taking phone calls from township residents unhappy about the current situation. He said he wanted to see a system that “would create more safety for or residents.” by having both police and fire calls handled by the same call center. Currently, Boardman handles Poland Township’s police 911 calls.

Ungaro also said he’s happy that the multiple areas of government worked together.

“In the end, a decision was made for the betterment of our residents and more importantly, the safety of our fire and police forces,” Ungaro said.

The county’s COG is made up of Greene, Boardman police Chief Todd Werth, and Austintown police Chief Bob Gavalier, who manages issues associated with the dispatching for 12 of the county’s police departments.

The current system was created about five years ago, with the COG investing in “state-of-the-art systems” in Boardman and Austintown. The county has become one-third owner of this.

The council is making sure the share of calls between the two centers is making the load of work fair.

“It’s not perfect, but we are working towards that,” Greene said.

Greene had said the biggest problem is hiring employees and retaining staff at the dispatch center.

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