OLD ORCHARD BEACH — The town has voted to switch to Scarborough for emergency dispatch services, but the proposed agreement won’t be final until Scarborough votes on it later this month.

The town council unanimously approved a contract Tuesday night that would have Scarborough performing Old Orchard Beach’s emergency dispatch services beginning Feb. 1.

Scarborough is scheduled to vote on the proposed agreement on Aug. 20, according to Scarborough Town Manager Thomas Hall.

Sanford Regional Communications Center currently provides emergency dispatch services for Old Orchard Beach, an agreement that began in 2011. Prior to that, Old Orchard Beach had its own dispatch center at the town’s police station. The town had decided to outsource dispatch services to Sanford to save money, and the state was encouraging dispatch consolidation under a proposed plan.

Town Manager Larry Mead said at a May council meeting that one advantage of contracting with Scarborough would be that a dispatcher from Scarborough would answer non-emergency calls instead of calls being picked up by an automated service. Mead also said Scarborough is a neighboring community, which would be handling and focused on only two communities, unlike Sanford’s center, which handles dispatch for several communities.

The proposed contract would begin Feb. 2, 2015 and run through Dec. 18, 2018.

For the first five months, the town will pay about $25,500 a month to Scarborough. Rates will increase 3 percent annually on July 1 of every year. The town will pay nearly $315,200 for the year beginning July 1, 2015.

The agreement would save the town about $21,000 annually, though there would be about $62,000 in one-time start-up costs for equipment and technology.

Under the terms of the contract, the agreement can be terminated by either Scarborough or Old Orchard Beach, as long as they notify the other town in writing six months prior to the date of termination.

Recently, the towns of Alfred and Waterboro also moved away from Sanford Regional Communications Center, switching to Biddeford for dispatch services.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].