Grafton considers joining regional public safety dispatch center

The town is exploring a regional public safety dispatch center, which would partner Grafton with several towns for 911 services.

The potential partners would include Hopkinton, Hudson, Northborough, Southborough, Westborough, and the city of Marlborough, with the dispatch center in a central location.

The town has been exploring the idea of regionalization since 2021, when representatives from the town, police, and fire departments attended a regional 911 workshop with sister committees. Grafton signed on to a study commissioned through the Collins Center for Public Management.

Dispatch cost the town $466,483.95 in Fiscal Year 2022, which includes payroll, benefits, and workman’s comp.

Town Administrator Evan Brassard told the Select Board last week that the state has been pushing for a regional dispatch model to create a more efficient and effective 911 system. For Grafton, going regional would be especially helpful if police and fire are busy responding to multiple issues at once.

“If Grafton has another mill fire… instead of having one dispatcher in the center, we have three,” Brassard said, referring to the 1999 Fisherville Mill Fire.

The town has already committed $350,000 for new police and fire radios, which will augment a $100,000 earmark from the state in the current budget. The full cost of the radio system, which will replace a circa 2006 system that does not entirely cover the town, will be about $2 million, which Brassard called “optimistic.”

Brassard said he worked with a regional system during his past job in western Mass. He said larger communities like Marlborough tend to draw more money but do not necessarily use more resources.

The decision overall will be up to the Select Board rather than Town Meeting. 

Select Board member Ray Mead is already against the idea, noting that some of the other towns have union fire departments versus Grafton’s on-call system.

“I’m concerned why we even need this,” he said. “In public safety/dispatching, I’d rather have it in our own town.”