Mahoning commissioners approve transition of dispatchers to Boardman, Austintown

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County commissioners approved the transition of dispatchers at the county’s 911 emergency answering point in the county administration building in downtown Youngstown from being county employees to being Austintown and Boardman township employees.

Under the 911 reorganization plan the commissioners approved March 31, six of the county’s 12 emergency 911 dispatchers were to go to Boardman and five to Austintown, with one taking a civilian job in the county sheriff’s office.

Under the plan, the dispatchers will become employees of those townships, respectively, as of midnight July 2.

The townships’ dispatching centers will gradually add to their dispatching responsibilities the jurisdictions for which the county center now dispatches.

The center in the county administration building, which dispatches for 13 agencies, will likely cease answering 911 calls within the next 12 to 18 months, Maggi McGee, county 911 director, said Thursday.

Read more about the change in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.