RIPON – For the better part of the past two months, the Ripon Police Department’s Dispatch Center has been handling service calls for Escalon on a fulltime basis.

Prior to that, Ripon was providing limited service to the neighboring city.

“Since 2001, we’ve been handling dispatch (for Escalon) between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. on weekdays, weekends, and holidays,” said police Chief Ed Ormonde.

Now both cities are looking to make it official in pooling their resources.

Ripon City Council agreed Tuesday to enter into a contract with the City of Escalon to assume dispatch services on a 24-hour basis.

No discussion was necessary.

Pending is approval from the Escalon City Council, Ormonde said.

He added that the move comes as a cost-cutting measure for the City of Escalon.

“This is win-win for both Ripon and Escalon,” said Ormonde.

According to agreement, Escalon would agree to pay the City of Ripon with an initial, non-recurring, start-up fee of about $4,554, and $7,767 per month or $93,215 annually. Included in the aforementioned was the installation of additional line-card capacity to Ripon’s telephone system.

Escalon, in addition to the monthly fees, would agree to pay separately, “any necessary monthly telephone line expenses which are required to facilitate the transmission of Escalon Police Department’s 911 calls,” the contract said.

This contract would be up for renewal every year, Ormonde noted.

In September 2010, Ripon officials were contacted by the Escalon Police Department, where the initial discussions took place to take over the dispatch services.

No problem, Ormonde said, since Ripon had been doing just that part-time for the past 10 years, with about five miles separating Ripon from Escalon.