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Date: 11/24/2020
HAMPDEN – For the past several months, the Hampden Board of Selectmen has been negotiating a regional emergency dispatch agreement with the town of Wilbraham. Chair Donald Davenport has expressed a desire to conduct a vote on the issue on Nov. 30, but now the ad-hoc Citizen’s Dispatch Committee is hoping to delay that vote and instead put the issue before the townspeople at the Annual Town Meeting in the spring.
The idea of regionalizing emergency dispatch services was brought to the forefront in March when Chicopee-based regional dispatch provider WESTCOMM spoke to several municipal officials about joining the system at a regional meeting. Hampden soon decided not to go with WESTCOMM, but instead, to entertain the option of joining with Wilbraham.
Since then, interim Town Administrator Bob Markel and Wilbraham’s Town Administrator Nick Breault had been negotiating various aspects of what such an agreement may look like. In its current draft form, the agreement would have Wilbraham’s existing dispatch take on 911 calls for Hampden. In return, Hampden would pay a fee of $125,000 plus any increase in the consumer price index to Wilbraham and the latter would receive grant money from State 911 to both incentivize the move and pay for infrastructure. This agreement is estimated by Davenport to save Hampden up to $350,000 per year in dispatch costs.
There are several unsettled issues that stand between the towns and an agreement, including how much control each municipality has over the dispatch system and its budget, as well as how the amount paid in fees is determined. The Citizen’s Dispatch Committee has now set down another potential hurdle in the form of a citizen’s petition to put the question of regionalization on the Annual Town Meeting warrant.
Residents Jim Smith and Tina Albano first broached the subject of a warrant article on the topic at the April 13 select board meeting. Smith made the argument at the time that the expected savings will be significantly less than stated by the board due to dispatch unemployment and future negotiations with the Hampden Police Department. Albano told the select board members that they “owe it to the town” to let people vote on the issue so that they did not feel “railroaded” by the final decision.
Specifically, the petition article reads, “To see if the town will vote to direct the Board of Selectmen in a non-binding referendum to keep emergency dispatch services in the town of Hampden, unless moving said services out of the town of Hampden has been agreed to by a majority of voters present at a Town Meeting; and to further direct the Board of Selectmen to aggressively pursue inter-municipal emergency dispatch agreements hosted by Hampden, in Hampden, or other fee-for-services dispatch agreements hosted by Hampden, in Hampden, that may generate revenue to offset some of the cost of the town’s emergency dispatch, or take any other action relative thereto.”
The petition is in the process of signature certification and review by town counsel.
Smith, who is on the committee, acknowledged in the letter it sent to the board along with the petition, that the decision to enter into an agreement is solely within the board’s “executive authority.” However, he argued that since there is no “contracted services” line item in the police department’s budget, the “legislative spending authorization” for the dispatch agreement should be approved by a majority at the Annual Town Meeting.
Davenport told Reminder Publishing that the timetable for consideration of regionalization has not changed as “a timely decision is in the best interest of all involved,” ahead of the fiscal year 2022 budgeting process.
“I believe each member of the board has heard and will take into consideration the input and concerns of residents and have studied and considered the pros and cons of the various options,” said Davenport. “I am confident each member will make their decision based on what they have learned and what each believes is best for the town and taxpayers of Hampden absent any preconceived notions or biases.”
Davenport stressed that regionalization offers a “major opportunity” to save the town “conservatively more than $1.3 million in tax dollars over the next five years, while still receiving professional emergency dispatch service.” He also said that consolidation will give the town two on-duty dispatchers at all times and the latest in technology, something it does not currently have.
Both Davenport and Hampden Selectman John Flynn have said that regional dispatch services have been successful in other parts of the state. Davenport noted that it can work in this area, as the neighboring towns of Monson, Longmeadow and East Longmeadow have already made the move and reported favorable reactions when asked by Markel.