BANGOR – Sitting at the same table Tuesday, officials from Penobscot County and the city of Bangor were still miles apart when it came to resolving whether Bangor should join the county-run regional dispatch center.

Bangor councilors came to the meeting armed with a list of four major issues – whittled down from an original 19 concerns – that they say need answers before they make the “join or not join decision,” chairman Frank Farrington told the packed meeting with Penobscot County commissioners.

The issue has been around since 1997, longer than most council members have been serving, but it may be coming to a head.

The City Council is expected to hold a workshop next week on the issue and could make a recommendation at its Aug. 22 meeting.

The panel also could send the issue to a citywide referendum in the November election. Either way, a decision needs to be made, officials said.

“I think there’s a commitment by the council to bring this to a conclusion,” City Manager Ed Barrett said after Tuesday’s meeting.

Bangor has been reluctant to join the Penobscot Regional Communications Center, which dispatches police and fire agencies in the county except for Bangor and Lincoln, and even filed a lawsuit seeking relief from paying for a service it didn’t use.

This spring, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court found in the county’s favor, ruling that Bangor still had to pay for regional dispatch even if it didn’t use it.

Bangor has wanted assurances that the cost-sharing formula for dispatch wouldn’t change to the city’s detriment. It also has wanted an increased presence on the dispatch oversight board.

City officials also want assurances that at least 10 dispatchers would be added to handle the load should Bangor sign on.

Bangor would account for 40 percent of the calls dispatchers would handle in a combined system, and councilors pressed for a similar representation of four seats on the 10-member Penobscot Regional Communications System board.

Bangor has one permanent seat now, reserved for its police chief, something Farrington described as inadequate.

Peter Baldacci, chairman of the commissioners, said Tuesday he would support increasing Bangor’s presence to two permanent seats – considering that Bangor accounts for 24 percent of the dispatch budget – but not four, an idea Commissioner Stephen Stanley also supported.

But Commissioner Tom Davis wouldn’t commit to increasing Bangor’s representation, saying that was a matter for the dispatch board to decide.

Seats on the board are split between the fire and police in the county, although the Bangor police chief, Penobscot County sheriff, and president of the Penobscot County Fire Chiefs Association are permanent members.

“I don’t think we should get parochial about this,” Davis said.

One issue that appeared dead on arrival was whether the fire alarm monitoring that Bangor dispatchers do for 126 businesses and agencies in the city would continue should the city join regional dispatch.

The service brings in $41,000 in revenue, but comes with an annual cost of about $35,000. It is in need of substantial upgrading, Bangor police Chief Don Winslow said later Tuesday.

City officials were under the impression that the communications center might take on the monitoring, but county and dispatch board officials said no, telling the city that such a service is better provided by a private party.

Other towns that have asked dispatch to take on the fire monitoring also have been told no, officials said.

“It’s not a direction that makes sense for this agency,” Baldacci said.

Farrington said Tuesday’s meeting was helpful. “We clarified a lot of things,” he said after the meeting. “Now’s the time to decide.”