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Date: 9/30/2015
WILBRAHAM – The Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to allow the town to participate in the second phase of a study for a proposed five-town Hampden County Emergency Communication Center (RECC).
Wilbraham joins Ludlow, Hampden, and Longmeadow in this next step for the estimated $5.7 million project, Town Administrator Nick Breault said.
East Longmeadow’s Board of Selectmen has yet to vote on whether to participate in the next phase.
Breault said it could be six to nine months before the town is faced with a decision to be part of the RECC.
Board of Selectmen Chair Robert Boilard said one of the main questions that would be answered during this second phase would be the cost for each of the contributing towns.
He noted that members of the Carell Group, a Hopkinton-based public safety architectural company that completed the project’s initial study, stated during a regional meeting between officials from the five towns on Sept. 16 that the RECC might not save each town money.
“Combining resources as far as buying five different servers, you’re buying two and things of that nature,” he added. “There’s a whole slew of information that this portion [of the study] brings for us so we understand it better on the economical scale and the personnel scale.”
The board also appointed Breault, Fire Chief Francis Nothe, and Police Chief Roger Tucker to a Regional 911 Emergency District Planning Committee.
Selectman Susan Bunnell said the committee would be responsible for proposing the RECC’s organization, governance structure, operation, location, estimate of construction or operating costs, and methods of financing.
Breault later told Reminder Publications he anticipates the Regional 911 Emergency District Planning Committee would host its first meeting before the end of October.