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Date: 11/25/2019
CHICOPEE – The City Council approved $506,585.31 to pay for its share of participating in the Western Massachusetts Emergency Communications District (WESTCOMM), the regional emergency dispatching organization, from Oct. 15 through June 30, 2020.
The action came when the council convened for its Nov. 19 meeting.
Chicopee and Longmeadow are the two communities that have banded together to use WESTCOMM to answer 9-1-1 calls for service.
City Councilor Gary Labrie noted that being part of WESTCOMM would allow Chicopee to free up police officers and firefighters for other duties than dispatching services.
City Councilor James Tillotson said the initial costs are high and it is the hope other communities will join into the cooperative program.
Erin Hastings, the executive director of WESTCOMM told the council the Commonwealth is encouraging such efforts for communities to band together for emergency dispatching and the state is paying 75 percent of the costs. Chicopee’s share of the remaining 25 percent is 80 percent, while Longmeadow’s share is 20 percent. The split is based on the size of the communities and call volumes.
The council also approved $40,000 to pay for the removal of about 64 trees around the city that have been assigned a status of “high risk” by the city’s arborist/tree warden.
Elizabette Botelho, the city’s Department of Public Work’s superintendent, told Mayor Richard Kos in a letter, “Over the past few months the city has experienced a micro-burst and two strong wind storms that resulted in trees coming down blocking roads and damaging private property.”
The cost of addressing these problem trees will be $7,000 a day with five to six workdays anticipated.