Wasilla weighs $569,600 for round-the-clock Fire/EMS dispatch at MatCom

The Wasilla City Council will consider a $569,600 budget amendment Monday that would put a second Fire/EMS dispatcher and a second call-taker on duty around the clock at MatCom, the city's dispatch center serving the Matanuska-Susitna Borough under contract.

The money comes entirely from the Mat-Su Borough. The borough's E911 and Dispatch Services contract was amended under Change Order 3, raising the annual contract from $1,583,000 to $2,152,600.

The ordinance would move MatCom from splitting call-taking and radio duties only during busy hours to doing so continuously. Emergency incidents that require both "occur around the clock, not only during predictable peak periods," the agenda statement says.

The city accepted and appropriated $340,000 from an earlier amendment to the borough dispatch contract for a first Fire/EMS dispatcher and call-taker, adopted Nov. 24, 2025. With this amendment, four positions would be borough-funded in fiscal 2027. MatCom dispatches fire, EMS and rescue for the borough under contract. The city describes it as the central hub for emergency communications across the Mat-Su and the Copper River Basin.

Staffing math has drawn scrutiny elsewhere in Alaska. The State of Alaska 9-1-1 and Dispatch Consolidation Working Group wrote that projected staffing numbers for a separate state consolidation proposal "are unrealistic and will likely lead to increased dispatch workload, which may result in dropped calls, increased wait times, loss of dispatch knowledge."

Three related items are also on Monday's agenda. A $1,231,156 contract with Motorola Solutions would fund P25 AXS dispatch consoles. A resolution would convert one full-time call-taker position into two part-time positions. Resolution 26-55 would express the council's intent to participate in planning a new regional dispatch facility and would authorize the mayor to execute a related memorandum of understanding.

Monday's action is an introduction only. The public hearing is set for Sept. 28.