Manning said one dedicated line from Lewis will be eliminated, and Long Lake has agreed to pay the cost of that line.

"This thing has been a mess from the start. Our relationship with Long Lake has not been solidified yet. We're still in the process of negotiating."

The Board of Supervisors approved the lines, but they were installed before the county had a signed contract, Manning said.

"As it stands, they have no obligation to us whatsoever. The lines were prematurely put in."

Supervisor Randy Preston (I-Wilmington), the Wilmington fire chief, said he believes the distance from Lewis to Long Lake is a reliability factor.

"Running phone lines from Lewis to Long Lake is a recipe for disaster. This is going to happen again, just because of the sheer distance."

Preston said that, under Essex County's proposed digital radio system, "we couldn't reach them anyway."

County Emergency Services officials have said Long Lake could still be dispatched with a new radio system as long as a dedicated line is in place.

Palmer said Supervisor George Canon (R-Newcomb) originally proposed the county dispatch in Long Lake "to do a favor to a neighboring town."

Palmer said two Essex County towns are dispatched by other counties at no charge: Minerva by Warren County and Chesterfield by Clinton County.

"It was one county extending a service to another county for a public-safety benefit."

Preston said it doesn't cost the other counties anything to dispatch Minerva and Chesterfield, which isn't the case for Essex County with Long Lake.

"I don't want it to seem like we're anti-Long Lake, but it looks like that, I guess," Preston said.

The Board of Supervisors voted this week unanimously to pay Wells's bill.

"If there was a problem with those lines and we didn't fix it, and there was a fatality, we'd be out more than $6,000," Palmer said.