MatCom adds two fire and EMS dispatch positions paid for by the Mat-Su Borough

MatCom, the city-run center that dispatches fire and EMS calls for the Mat-Su Borough, is adding a fire and medical dispatcher and a call taker after the Wasilla City Council approved borough money for the positions Monday. The city says the hires will put a second dispatcher and a second call taker on duty around the clock, instead of only during busy hours.

The city runs MatCom under a contract with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and describes it as the hub for emergency communications across the Mat-Su and the Copper River Basin. The council adopted a $569,600 amendment to the city budget without objection, accepting borough money for one full-time Fire/EMS call taker and one full-time Fire/EMS dispatcher. No one testified.

The borough is covering the cost through a change to its dispatch contract with the city, so the positions add nothing to the city's MatCom fund, according to the city's agenda statement. The money depends on the Borough Assembly continuing to approve it each year.

Council Member Stu Graham asked whether a separate change the council approved Sept. 14, splitting one full-time call taker job into two part-time positions, would cost more because of health benefits. A city official said it would not.

The new positions will work out of MatCom's current building while the borough plans a new home for the center. On Sept. 14, the council agreed to join borough planning for a regional dispatch center attached to a new fire station at Bogard Road and Tate Drive, outside city limits. A preliminary borough term sheet estimated that dispatch space at $5 million, alongside a new $8 million building for Alaska State Troopers.

Borough Manager Mike Brown told the council then that the borough's intent "is not to take dispatch services away from MatCom."