Commissioners hear Lorain County 911 staffing update, OK road work contracts

Lorain County 911 is more than three-quarters of the way to the desired complement of 40 emergency dispatchers, the Lorain County commissioners learned Tuesday. County 911 Director Rob Berner said there are now 31 full-time dispatchers with another one in training and three more beginning training on April 7, for a total of 34. He said the goal is to eventually have 40 trained emergency dispatchers, working 12-hour shifts in four platoons of 10 dispatchers each. Starting June 1, the "A" and "B" platoons will work days, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with one of them on three days and one on four days per week. They will then swap the following week, giving each platoon a three-day weekend every other week. The "C" and "D" platoons will work 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., with the same rotating schedule. Many dispatch centers in Ohio have gone to 12-hour shifts, Berner said. "We think it will improve the quality of life and we will keep (dispatch staff) a lot longer," he said. The agency is actively hiring, but not all new hires make it all the way through training either due to the demands of the job or because they figure out emergency dispatching isn't the right job for them, Berner told the board. Facing what the dispatcher's union called a "critical staffing crisis" in 2023 along with rising overtime costs and heavy staffing turnover, Berner and other officials committed to hiring more veteran dispatchers and raising salaries at Lorain County 911. In other business, the board: awarded a more-than $1.1 million contract to Erie Blacktop Inc. of Sandusky for the West Ridge Road resurfacing project. West Ridge Road will be resurfaced from Russia Road to state Route 113 by Aug. 30, with the project paid for by the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Ohio Public Works Commission. awarded a $555,525 contract to Karvo Companies Inc. of Stow to resurface Baumhart Road from Whittlesey Road to Lorain's southern city limits before Aug. 30. Funding for that also comes from ODOT and the OPWC. awarded a $224,963 contract to RMH Concrete & Foundations of Collins, Ohio, for the "Safe Routes to Schools" project in Sheffield Township. The work involves building a 5-foot-wide sidewalk and Americans with Disabilities Act-complaint curb ramps along the east and south sides of North Ridge Road from Cooper Foster Park Road to Clearview High School by Sept. 30. All but $1,275 of the project cost will be paid by ODOT. agreed to pay Amherst $79,560 as part of a cooperation agreement involving the Middle Ridge Road resurfacing project. Amherst used OPWC funds to pay 74 percent of the project cost and the county provided the remaining 26 percent, or $79,560. authorized the Lorain County Engineer's Office to advertise for bids to resurface Nickel Plate Diagonal Road from Route 303 to Parsons Road in LaGrange Township. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.