By George Barnes
Telegram & Gazette Staff
GARDNER, Mass. — A snowstorm delayed plans to create a regional 911 dispatch center, but a meeting postponed Tuesday has been rescheduled for Jan. 31.
Mayor Mark P. Hawke said he and other Gardner officials will meet with officials from Winchendon and Athol to begin planning what he hopes will become a regional E911 dispatch center to serve the city, the two towns and other communities that want to participate.
“We’re looking to create a regional 911 service and possibly share a lockup with Winchendon,” the mayor said.
Mr. Hawke said it is the perfect time for the city to consider creating the center. It is looking at building a new police station, and could build in the space needed for regionalized services. He said the 911 center concept could be expanded to not only serve Gardner and Winchendon, but to give 24-hour coverage to other nearby towns, especially towns contiguous with Gardner and Winchendon.
The mayor acknowledged that there would be some concerns by some of the communities about not having their own dispatch centers, including loss of positions and money they receive for their centers.
He said the 911 center would only be for emergency services. Cities and towns would still receive non-emergency calls and handle non-emergency dispatching. The emergency services for communities would be handled by local police, firefighters and ambulance personnel unless more assistance was requested.
“I receive $30,000 for a dispatch center and you go to a regional 911 dispatch center, you’re still going to get that and possibly more as I understand it,” he said.
Gardner and Winchendon and surrounding communities now share the same courthouse, and Mr. Hawke said that with Gardner building a police station, it would be reasonably easy to increase the size of the lockup depending on the number of communities that might be using it.
The mayor said he would love to see Ashburnham, Athol, Gardner, Hubbardston, Phillipston, Royalston, Templeton, Westminster and Winchendon be part of the regional dispatch center and possibly also use the regional lockup. He said Athol and Winchendon have expressed interest in the concept. If they sign on to the project, he hopes others will follow.
Copyright 2011 Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Inc.