SPRINGDALE -- Council members agreed to switch the borough's emergency dispatch service from Harrison to Tarentum. The borough agreed to a 5-year contract with Tarentum Dispatch. Springdale will pay $19,000 next year, $19,570 in 2006, $20,352 in the third year, $21,166 in the fourth and just over $22,000 in the fifth. Harrison withdrew its proposal, but Councilman Michael Ziencik said Tarentum was still lower. The borough is under a five-contract with Harrison that expires on Dec. 31. The borough pays $20,500 for the service. Ziencik said the borough decided to change because of several problems with Harrison's service. Jason and Melissa Fry contacted the Valley News Dispatch and said their infant son, who has asthma, was having trouble breathing in October. Melissa said her baby's breathing was so labored that she could see his ribs. Ziencik said there is about a 15-minute difference from when the Frys dialed 911 to when an ambulance crew learned of the emergency. The 911 call was received by a Newcom dispatcher in Shaler, who transferred the call to Harrison Dispatch, which in turn alerted Lower Valley Ambulance Service in Cheswick, according to Ziencik. Lower Valley Ambulance aids Springdale when the borough's ambulance service can't respond. "When he's (breathing with difficulty), we have to get to the hospital pretty quick," Melissa said. She said it's happened before, and the Frys drove to the emergency room rather than use an ambulance; however, hospital staff told her it would be faster to call an ambulance. "But this time we would have gotten there faster if we had driven," Melissa said. Their son, Thomas, was admitted, but was released after two breathing treatments and chest x-rays, she said. Officials from Harrison Dispatch were unavailable for comment Wednesday night. Ziencik said that while some of the dispatchers in Harrison "do an excellent job," there are some that don't follow written guidelines for which emergency service departments to automatically dispatch. East Deer Township also agreed to switch from Harrison Dispatch to Tarentum on Nov. 10. Harmar dropped Harrison Dispatch at the start of this year, and signed a 5-year contract with Tarentum Dispatch last December. In other business: The board received the 99-year lease agreement for Veteran's Field between the borough and Allegheny Valley School District with changes to the contract's wording that the district approved at Monday night's school board meeting. The borough added another change to the lease and is set to send the lease back to the district for final approval. "We made an addition, that if the school district ever merged, we would get control of the field," said Councilman Edward Faybik Jr. The borough approved the lease in October as long as it was identified which parts of the field would be controlled by which party. The lease would give the district control over the field. Superintendent Charles Territo estimated the work will cost between $1 million and $1.5 million. Additional Information:

Emergency number to change

Effective Jan. 1, Springdale Borough will use Tarentum's emergency dispatch service. Residents can still dial 911 for help. Tarentum Dispatch's direct number is 724-224-1515.

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