Butler County commissioners recently shared concerns about the county’s 911 services working alongside Seven Field’s new Northern Regional Police Department partners.

But according to the borough’s new police Chief John Sicilia, the regional department is already working to provide a solution.

“We have one final meeting on Thursday (Dec. 21) just to iron out all the minor issues that could potentially arise,” he said. “But I am confident that all these issues will be resolved prior to us providing police services.”

In a letter dated Dec. 14, the commissioners addressed three concerns with Seven Fields Borough Council that they believed could “become critical” for callers seeking assistance from the department.

“As of today, there is no direct contact between Butler County’s 911 service and the Northern Regional police officers in the field,” read the first concern.

Seven Fields Borough Council on Dec. 11 approved a $650,000, four-year contract for police services from the Northern Regional Police Department.

As the new regional department — based in Allegheny County — prepares to provide Seven Fields police services beginning Jan. 1, the commissioners’ first concern warned of delays and backups in calls without any direct contact between the regions.

“Instead, we must ‘warm’ transfer police calls to Allegheny County 911,” the letter read, “which may cause significant delay in response due to Allegheny County’s call volume and ability to process the call.”

Bordering both Butler and Beaver counties, Sicilia said Allegheny County already regularly receives and transfers calls between the regions and that he plans to address the concern with county’s 911 services.

“We haven’t had any issues in the past,” he said, “and Seven Fields does not have that many calls on an annual basis that I’d be overly concerned about this.”

The commissioners’ second concern addressed the regional department’s access to the Butler County radio system, warning its officers would not be able to communicate with the county’s officers or emergency services.

According to the letter, the Northern Regional officers would lack “situational awareness” in the county without local radio access, potentially hindering services.

But Sicilia said the department has been working to address this throughout the transition process.

“We’re in the process of obtaining radios so that we can have direct access,” he said. “We’re figuring it out.”

The commissioners’ final concern asked the borough and the department to “define secondary responses or backup units in the event of a critical call or violent crime.”

“While Northern Regional will be your primary police department, we are encouraging you to provide those backups for use when their units are tied up on other calls,” the letter read.

Sicilia said the department would utilize local dispatch to request assistance in these instances.

“There’s not a 100% foolproof system out there,” he said, “yet I feel confident that we’ll be able to handle the calls or at least request assistance if needed.”

Seven Fields’ council ratified its agreement with Northern Regional Police Department on Dec. 11, amid the ongoing dissolution of the Evans City-Seven Fields Regional Police Department.

Sicilia said the regional department ratified its end of the agreement three days later, on Dec. 14. The regional department now represents Pine, Marshall and Richland townships, as well as the boroughs of Bradford Woods and Seven Fields.

“With all the stakeholders in this, I completely understand the apprehension” he said. “This is not something that happens all the time where a municipality goes outside of the county for police services.”

But with a final planning meeting set for Dec. 21, Sicilia said the department is expecting a “seamless transition.”

“I assure the residents of Seven Fields: I feel confident that we’re going to provide the best, seamless police services,” he said. “I’m not foreseeing any issues at all.”

Addressing the letter, borough manager Tom Smith said council and the department have been in regular contact with county officials — including District Attorney Richard Goldinger and District Judge Kevin Flaherty — throughout the transition.

“We’ve done our homework,” he said. “We’ve done our due diligence in properly preparing for a smooth transition from one regional police department to another.”

Smith said Thursday’s meeting was planned to “shore up” the final details for the arrangement, resolving the county’s concerns alongside Steven Bicehouse, the county’s director of emergency services, and Rob McLafferty, 911 coordinator.

“Everything is in play or in the process of being resolved,” he said “I plan on responding and assuring the commissioners that everything will be resolved and there will be no hiccups with the 911 system.”

The commissioners’ letter assured the borough they would “make every effort to work with Northern Regional” to alleviate the concerns, citing the issue of radio access as a priority.

“That was the plan from the very beginning,” Smith said.

He said the borough had confidence in Sicilia and his team’s efforts throughout the transition.

“They have a plan,” Smith said, “They’re going to utilize the radios as referenced in the letter; I think the commissioners definitely can be at ease.”

Smith said the borough and the department anticipated “no issues whatsoever in the delivery of 911 functions between the two counties.”

“We appreciate the commissioners’ input and concerns,” he said, “but we’re completely confident that all their concerns are going to be resolved.”