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Date: 7/19/2023
BELCHERTOWN — Belchertown has received a grant in the amount of $185,030 through the Massachusetts Municipal Fiber Grant Program to improve its public safety communication.
The Healey-Driscoll administration announced $4 million in grants through the Community Compact Municipal Fiber Grant Program on July 6.
IT Director Kevin Hannon said the grant will be used to install dark fiber that the town owns from the network hub at Town Hall to the May Farm cell tower, and from Town Hall to the old recreation center/water tower continuing to the EMS building, the fire station, down Jackson Street and across Berkshire Avenue to Whitlock Way to the Police Department and its cell tower.
When the project is complete, there will be a total of 6 miles of fiber installed.
“In the short term, it is largely to provide a redundant path for our communications, phones and networks, between emergency services in the event that we lose fiber connectivity going down Maple and State streets. It will also increase the stability of communications between some of our public safety radio stations,” Hannon said.
The fiber will be set up so in the case of either a weather event or car accident takes out a pole on they Police Department does not lose communication.
According to Hannon, right now the police station would lose communication with Town Hall if a pole was knocked down on Maple Street.
Hannon said, “Receiving the grant is good. It is something that helps us out and something that we have been wanting to do for a while and the state offering this to give us that opportunity is very, very helpful.”
The Municipal Fiber Grant Program offers competitive grants to close gaps that exist in municipal networks. Awards are focused on connecting town owned facilities and assisting municipalities in achieving critical goals associated with municipal fiber networks.
These grants can be particularly helpful to smaller and more rural communities that lack the resources and infrastructure to meet their information technology needs.
Hannon said, “Part of what we are doing is bolstering our radio communications for the public safety network.”
Hannon said the connection to May Farm will also allow radio equipment to be moved from the Franklin School building to the tower at May Farm.
This grant will not only improve public safety communication but also includes funds that will help the community.
Hannon said the grant will also allow the town to utilize the mobile command center that the Police Department has from the town common and provide public Wi-Fi access on the town common for events like the Town Fair, Food Truck Fridays, and Concerts on the Common.
Hannon said the next steps are to identify and work with a vendor and even though the funds from the grant don’t have to be expended until December 2024, he would like to get the process started soon.
Gov. Maura Healey said, “Massachusetts residents rely on local government to deliver core services daily, and information technology plays a significant role in making that happen. This grant program is one of the many ways we partner with cities and towns to better serve residents, and we are proud to be able to help them improve their municipal broadband infrastructure.”