7-7-2026 Joint Dispatch Board Minutes

MANITOWOC COUNTY JOINT DISPATCH BOARD Meeting Minutes DATE: July 7, 2026 TIME: 9:00 a.m. PLACE: Manitowoc County Communications & Technology Building 1024 S. 9th St., Manitowoc, WI 54220 Room 111/112 Committee Members Present : Paul Granger, Joe Jeanty, Jason Orth (for Dan Hartwig) John Musial, Todd Olig, Dennis Rabas and Chris Dallas. Non-Committee members in attendance were Dan Heilman, Brett Oswald, Todd Cummings, Jason Orth Kevin Haese, Bill Jones, Angela Obry, Rhonda Green, Luke Kalista, Josh Stradal, Charles Olson, Mark Knier, Greg Grotegut, Ben Kraynek, Ashley Smits, and Tyler Martel. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Chairman Paul Granger at 09:00 am. Roll Call/Introductions: Roll call was completed at 09:02 am. Public Comment: None Approve Minutes of April’s Meeting: April’s meeting minutes approved by Todd Olig and seconded by Joe Jeanty. Old Business: a. MABAS – Nick Smith could not attend the meeting. Rhonda Green read the information provided via email from Nick. Parts of WI is still on IFERN 2. Helicopter cannels may be changing from Marc 2 to fire ground grey. New Business: Updates from IT a. Upgrades • Updating to Cloud is now pushed out to 2028. Next upgrade scheduled in Feb. 2027, goes live March 20, 2027. b. Communications • Bill Jones discussed the new Motorola upgrades. Motorola is struggling to keep up with the bugs in the new system. A new device will be placed on the Franklin Tower to hopefully eliminate Joint Dispatch transmissions going into site trunking. Cleveland was given an APX radio w/Verizon. State Agencies, the Command Post, the Emergency Management Truck, and Mishicot still needs a key; the multi-select function at the dispatch consoles have not been fixed yet. Update from Emergency Services Department: a. Community Outreach events and dates were shared. b. EOC activation level differences were explained. c. Chris Dallas solicited from the group ideas to change the current ways the Joint Dispatch Board conducts business and meetings. Topic tabled for the October meeting. d. Software upgrades to the joint dispatch center were discussed and the grant that would cover the majority of the costs. e. Everbridge notifications and upcoming changes. Members of th e group want a “county employee” to run Everbridge and not a consultant. Update from Joint Dispatch a. Current staffing shared. b. New software upgrades were explained and why joint dispatch needed them. Other: Manitowoc Sheriff’s Office Todd Cummings expressed concern regarding the dive team placed on most all box cards. This issue was been placed on the fire association meeting agenda and will be discussed then. The board recognized Major Kevin Haese for his service. Major Haese is leaving to pursue other opportunities, and Brett Oswald will be promoted into Major Haese’ position. Manitowoc County Highway Dept. A suggestion was made to have the highway department use Everbridge to disseminate road closures to responding agencies. It has been d ecided that road closure notifications will continue to be broadcasted through joint dispatch and social media posts. Next Meeting Date: October 6, 2026, 9:00 AM at the EOC Adjournment: A motion was made by Chris Dallas and seconded by Joe Jeanty to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 09:36 am. Respectfully submitted, Rhonda Green Director Manitowoc County Emergency Services Department