Sec. 1. Communication center established. The Central Maine Regional Public Safety Communication Center, referred to in this Act as the "center," is established to provide emergency communication services to participating state, county and municipal public safety agencies in the central Maine region. Original participating agencies and municipalities are the Maine State Police, the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office and the municipalities of Gardiner, Augusta, Waterville, Winslow and Oakland.

Sec. 2. Governance. The center is governed by the following provisions.

1. Governing council. The center operates under a council consisting of one voting member from each municipality that uses the services of the center. The governing council must meet at least twice annually to establish center policies and to provide guidance to the center's board of directors. The council may override any decision of the board of directors by calling a special meeting of the council at the request of 60% of the council's membership and approving by a 2/3 majority a motion to override.

2. Board of directors. The board of directors initially consists of representatives from the governmental units that participated in the center's feasibility and implementation studies and 2 at-large members selected by the council from the municipalities served by the dispatch system that preceded the establishment of the center. Four members, one from each public safety service, serve as ex officio members but may not vote on financial matters.

The original board of directors operates for a period not to exceed three years from the date of the center's inception. At the end of that period, the terms of the initial board terminate and a permanent board of directors must be established. The permanent board, members of which serve at the pleasure of their appointing authorities, consists of representatives of:

A. The Maine State Police, appointed by the Chief of the Maine State Police;

B. The Kennebec County Sheriff's Office, appointed by the Sheriff of Kennebec County;

C. Each of the 5 largest municipalities in the service area, appointed by their municipal governing boards. Each municipal representative must be a member of and serve as an elected official on the appointing board;