Provo turns down Aston family offer

PROVO — Provo Mayor Lewis Billings turned down an offer from the Aston family to give back $85,000 of the $220,000 settlement Provo paid out for the death of Scott Aston.

The reason the offer was rejected is in dispute, however.

Family members wanted to donate the money to pay for an enhanced 911 system that will track cell phone calls. Scott Aston died Oct. 1 after calling Provo's 911 center from his cell phone. The center didn't have the technology to trace the call and the dispatcher misheard Aston's address.

The dispatcher also failed to follow procedures that would have overcome the error, which resulted in medical crews being sent to the wrong address.

Provo will implement the new system this winter to comply with an FCC mandate that every city have it by Dec. 31.

Provo officials say the enhanced 911 system will cost up to $350,000, but they didn't want to accept the Aston's money because it had strings attached.

Billings said the Astons offered the $85,000 — but only if Provo agreed to name the call center after Scott Aston.

"We didn't want to permanently brand the people who work there with some permanent reminder of one incident in thousands," Billings said. Otherwise, he added, "I'm not one who ever would retreat from a generous contribution."

"The dollars were always tied to some indication of renaming the center," Provo spokeswoman Raylene Ireland said. "It was never offered as a financial gift."

The Astons say the offer to give back money and the idea of naming the center after Scott Aston were separate issues. The money, they say, was Provo's to take.

"It was absolutely not tied," Aston family attorney Justin Heideman said. "There's no question about that."

He also said the family was told the city did not want private funds. The apparent rationale was that the city did not want to set a precedent that private donations could steer government policy.

The Astons began telling city officials they were considering donating some of a possible settlement soon after retaining Heideman and his law firm, Ascione Heideman & McKay. Heideman said the initial offer did not tie the money to renaming the center. Another suggestion was a plaque of Scott Aston that would hang somewhere in the dispatch center.