County Approves Contract Extension for 911 Director

Vince Zagarri will continue to serve as Franklin County’s 911 Director in 2013.

The Franklin County Commission approved a one-year contract extension for consulting services with Zagarri Engineering at its Nov. 13 regular meeting.

Zagarri has served as 911 director since September of 2010.

Under the terms of agreement, Zagarri will be paid at a rate of $135 per hour with a stipulation that his annual compensation not exceed $82,080.

The contract anticipates Zagarri working about 50 hours per month and calls for Zagarri to be on site in Union for two days per week for face to face meetings and other duties.

The cap on annual compensation was added after the commission initially reviewed the contract extension in October according to county officials.

According to the contract, Zagarri will facilitate and manage the county’s Emergency Communications Committee and all of the technical systems in the 911 network. He is also responsible for developing a strategic plan for 911 with the Franklin county Sheriff and other officials.

Zagarri will continue to report to the Franklin County Commission.

Ron Keeven, New Haven, a former commission candidate, questioned why the contract extension included an hourly rate figure that was higher than an earlier version of the contract and why the county didn’t just hire a full-time 911 director.

“Why are we paying someone who will only be working a day and half a week $82,000 a year when we could hire someone on staff to work fill-time to coordinate this?” Keeven asked during the public comment portion of the meeting.

County officials said the one-year contract extension pays Zagarri at the same hourly rate as last year. An earlier proposal contained an hourly rate of $114 for a three-year term.

The extension the commission approved contains a new term that allows either party to terminate the contract with 30 days of written notice.

Franklin County Auditor Tammy Vemmer said Zagarri has been paid $222,372.80 from September 2010 through November 2012.

Zagarri will make recommendations regarding all technology spending for the Franklin County 911 Communications Center under the terms of the agreement.