Swampscott dispatch plan main topic as selectmen meet

SWAMPSCOTT – A regionalized civilian dispatch was the main topic of discussion at the Board of Selectmen meeting even though it was not an item on the agenda.The selectmen were scheduled to discuss the regional dispatch center Tuesday evening but last week the topic was removed from the agenda and the discussion had been pushed back to Nov. 21.However, in “Selectmen’s Time,” which allows members of the Board to bring up topics not on the agenda Selectman Richard Malagrifa broached the subject of regionalized dispatch.Malagrifa said regionalizing services is a way to save money and he is in favor of civilian regional dispatch but he’s not comfortable entering into an agreement with the Essex County Regional Dispatch Center without knowing what other options there are.Malagrifa asked Town Administrator Andrew Maylor to look at other possible options including agreements with Marblehead and/or Salem.Maylor said he would be willing to take a look at other options but he pointed out the Essex County Regional Dispatch Center is something that the town has been working on for five years. Maylor said it would not be possible to get the level of detail on other options in a few weeks. Maylor said money for the Essex County Regional Dispatch Center has been secured, six communities have committed to participating in it and others are looking at it.Malagrifa asked Maylor if he thought Salem or Marblehead would be interested in a joint venture with Swampscott. Maylor said he believes agreements with Lynn, Marblehead and Salem could all be viable.”But when, how much and how it will work is a far off question,” Maylor said.Selectman David Van Dam asked if there would be a benefit to partnering with a neighboring community as opposed to Middleton.”Everyone would feel better,” Maylor said. “It feels better because we know them.”He reminded the selectmen the town has a contract with Lynn Fire Department for fire dispatch and most residents aren’t even aware the calls are handled outside of town.Emphatically Maylor said there is a regionalized civilian dispatch for the police department, the police station would not close and there would still be an officer at the desk.Selectman Matthew Strauss said he doesn’t want to discount the five years worth of work that went into hammering out an agreement with Essex County Regional Dispatch Center.”To discount options,” he said, “we wouldn’t be doing our due diligence? I’d like to look at a smaller model.”Maylor said he would “aggressively” pursue other options in the next few weeks and report back to the selectmen at a future meeting.There were not any police officers present at the meeting but earlier this week Massachusetts Coalition of Police Local #417 President Sgt. Joe Kable said he is looking forward to a meeting where all information could be presented in a complete and orderly fashion.Our concerns with this proposal are based on the specifics of this plan and do not represent a simple rejection of the concept,” Kable said on Monday. “We of course remain willing to work with the town to find ways to both enhance services and save money, neither of which we feel the current proposal does.”