On February 19, the Rockland City Council has two agenda items before it to consider at a special meeting: An order authorizing withdrawal from the Knox County Regional Communications Center.

The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at Rockland City Hall, 270 Pleasant Street, in Rockland.

It will be streamed live and will available for participation via Zoom, meeting ID 892 2919 9574. Passcode: 403442. The meeting will also be broadcast on Cable Channel 1303.

 The first topic of discussion is a proposal to authorize the City Manager to withdraw the City of Rockland from the Knox County Communications Center with 90-days written notice.

Knox Regional Communications Center (KRCC), the county’s Rockland-based 911 dispatch service, found itself in a personnel crisis again last week. Staff by late Wednesday, Feb. 5, was reportedly down to just a handful, and Knox County Sheriff’s Office has now stepped in with deputies answering 911 calls for help.

Knox County Commissioners and staff are adamant that they are able to get the call center back on track, and that they will fill the ranks of six to 12 full-time employees soon.

But Rockland has an alternative plan, and a budget for creating a new dispatch center operated by the City of Rockland has been proposed. It calls for creating a seven-member dispatch operational center with an $804,549 budget.

The second agenda item is a public diversity and inclusionary forum.