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Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen renews 911 service contract

One-year agreement supported, with negotiations underway for a further five-year contract
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The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen has signed a one-year agreement for 911 service. (Contributed)

The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkmaeen has extended its 911 emergency services communications agreement with the Central Okanagan Regional District.

The extended agreement for the E-Comm service is in effect from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2021.

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The two regional districts renewed their 911 call answer centre service agreement in 2014 for a five-year term. Under that agreement, the Central Okanagan Regional District administers the contract on behalf of nine participating regional districts. This was done to provide a more cost-effective model.

In 2019, a five-year contract with E-Comm could not be secured, so instead the Central Okanagan Regional District negotiated a 14-month contract extension to the end of 2020.

An upgrade to the Next Generation 911 system is underway. This upgrade is designed to provide new and enhanced 911 services.

In November, 2020, the E-Comm board of directors approved an agreement amendment with a budget of $1,094,440 for all the participating regional districts. This is an increase of 4.5 per cent from the previous year.

The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen’s share is $152,860.

The Central Okanagan Regional District and E-Comm are continuing contract negotiations to secure a five-year contract by the end of this year.

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John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

John Arendt has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism degree from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
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