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Date: 1/18/2023
WARREN – The town of Warren has received an assessment grant for the past three years, but “this one is huge,” said Fire Chief Adam Lavoie.
During the Jan. 5 Board of Selectmen meeting, members were asked to accept the state grant, 911 transition award fiscal year 2023, for regional dispatch and sign the intermunicipal contract agreement with the town of Rutland.
A little over three years ago, Warren merged with Rutland Regional Dispatch. The regional dispatch serves five towns including Rutland, Warren, Oakham, Barre and Hubbardston, with Warren being the newest member.
By joining the regional dispatch, Lavoie said they became eligible for the grant. He explained that the town of Rutland applies for the grant on behalf of Warren and an assessment is done.
Because of these grants, Lavoie has been able to go to Annual Town Meeting and ask the townspeople to direct the money that was meant for Rutland to be put toward the towns radio infrastructure project which is in its final stages. He noted that this is the second grant they received that went toward the radio infrastructure project. The first one was for $122,000 and this one was $129,741. In total, $251,741 worth of assessment grants was used for the project.
“This radio project wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t for the assessment grants that they were eligible for through Rutland,” said Lavoie.
He noted that Warren has been fortunate enough to receive three assessment awards and is hoping for four, possibly five, as that is the limit. “Rutland has cost us little to no money thus far and we have been with them for years,” he added.
“If we didn’t get these we wouldn’t be where we were with this safety structure project,” said Lavoie.
The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved the grant.
Before joining Rutland, Warren operated as a standalone dispatch. At that time, Lavoie said there were financial restraints and problems with the internal structure that did not allow it to work on its own.
He noted that there are many advantages to going regional and many towns are headed in that direction as it presents more grant opportunities.
“It’s been a good experience,” he said. “It’s a professional organization over there [in Rutland].”
Lavoie said Rutland has been able to provide them with a lot of grant opportunities and equipment that they wouldn’t have as a standalone operation.
“The relationships are really good,” shared Lavoie. “This is probably the best situation right now for the town.”