2022-09-27-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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09/27/2022 AC Minutes 2 When the Fire Department relocated to its temporary headquarters at 173 Bedford Street several years ago, it was able to make do, with minor adjustments, in part because it had already upgraded its communication equipment to work with the Town’s fiber optic network now used by most Town facilities, including at 173 Bedford Street. When the Police Department moved to that temporary location early this summer, however, problems arose because the dispatching operation, used by both the Police and Fire Departments, had been designed to work with an older phone system using copper wiring. In the planning for the move, Verizon representatives had assured that the copper-wire-based dispatching equipment could be transferred to and made serviceable at the temporary headquarters. After the move, however, it turned out that the older “analog” equipment did not function well when connected with the “digital” fiber optic cabling at 173 Bedford Street. The problem surfaced when police and fire employees in the field began to experience skips and drops of radio communications from the dispatch center. With the help of technical advisers and the investment of a considerable amount of time by the Town’s IT and Public Facilities departments, the Police and Fire Departments are working on ways to patch around the problems on a temporary basis and eliminate the skips and drops. However, both Police Chief McLean and Fire Chief Sencabaugh believe that it is essential to upgrade the affected portions of the communications systems as soon as possible to assure public safety. The chiefs, together with Department of Public Facilities Director Cronin, have identified nine antenna locations around the Town where equipment needs to be replaced. The estimated cost for the project is $800,000, including an allowance for contingencies. As there are long lead times for delivery after ordering the necessary equipment – in the range of six to eight months – the chiefs do not believe it would be prudent to delay things further by waiting for an appropriation of the necessary funds at the upcoming special town meeting scheduled for early November. The chiefs presented the issue to the Select Board at its meeting on September 24 and at that time proposed the use of ARPA grant money to fund the project. The Select Board, however, was reluctant to use ARPA funds for this purpose and recommended instead a request to this Committee for a transfer from the Reserve Fund. The request is for the complete balance of $750,000 currently in the Reserve Fund, which is the amount originally appropriated at the 2022 Annual Town Meeting. The additional $50,000 required would be covered by ARPA funds. In order to assure that adequate amounts would be available in the Reserve Fund for the balance of FY2023, it is anticipated that a request will be made at the upcoming special town meeting in November for an appropriation to replenish that fund from additional new growth revenue that has recently been identified. In response to questions by Committee members, including those in an email circulated in advance by Mr. Padaki, the following additional information was provided: • The contemplated upgrade of the dispatch equipment would have been necessary anyway when the Police Department moved back to its new headquarters building; this project will just accelerate the process. • The needed equipment upgrade was not part of the budget for construction of the new police station; the equipment is mostly located at antennas around the town, not at the station. • The anticipated lifespan of the new equipment is approximately 10 years. • The costs for the future retransfer of any of the new equipment purchased to the communications tower planned behind the new police station should be covered by AT&T as part of a tower lease.