Town of Princeton, MA
Meeting Minutes
Public Safety Committee
October 27, 2010
Town Hall Annex
Chairman Sulmasy called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM. Members present were Bill Dino, Stan Moss, Bob Sauer, Charlie Schmohl, and Neil Sulmasy. Members Jim Comer and Jon Fudeman were absent. Also attending were Selectman Edie Morgan, Fire Captain Ken Whitney, and Town Administrator John Lebeaux.
Acceptance of Minutes
The Committee unanimously voted to accept the minutes of October 19, 2010.
Review Regional Dispatch Presentations
Bill commented that all the presentations were very well done. He noted his concern that the present regional dispatch service hosted by the Town of Rutland does not use the call taker/dispatcher method. He believes Rutland’s method of a single dispatcher following through the call is not as effective as the call taker dispatcher model. He questioned the surge capacity the Rutland model offers.
When discussing the proposed Worcester regional program, he noted that there would be no need to add personnel should Princeton join. He also explained that Worcester EMS would provide Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) in-house for the regional members but continue to contract through UMass Medical Center for EMD for the City.
Stan summarized the town’s choices as choosing a small-town versus a city host, or maintaining to provide dispatch independently. He mentioned that other regional collaboratives might develop. He also stated that the Committee should report to the Board of Selectmen soon and that in both regional programs examined, Princeton would be a customer, not a shareholder.
Charlie questioned if the full scope of Worcester’s facility costs has been estimated as the Worcester dispatch unit leaves Police Headquarters and moves into its own building. Charlie mentioned that the two major candidates for Worcester County Sheriff (L. Evangelidis, T. Foley) are considering regional lock up at the county jail.
Bob expressed concern with the customer/provider relationship in the small town model with Rutland and advocated for shared policy making.
Bill had confidence in how Princeton would receive service by the current Worcester EMS director but questioned if a different future management would deliver.
The Committee discussed exit costs if a regional arrangement proved unsatisfactory.
Stan provided a back of the envelope analysis of current and projected costs:
The Committee identified costs that need to be understood:
- What number of telephone lines would the Police and Fire Departments need in a regional arrangement? Could the existing number be consolidated?
- What exactly are the needs of the Police Department relative to having a second staffer in the building when an individual needs to be brought into the building for bookings, interviews, etc.?
The Committee assigned John three tasks:
- Ask Chief LaPorte to clarify the incident charts he provided the Committee at its October 19 meeting
- Ask both public safety chiefs to identify “What would it take?” to enter into a regional dispatch program and to maintain all ancillary functions currently handled by dispatchers that would not transfer to a regional center.
- Contact Dave Clemons/Worcester Emergency Communications and request he provide a reasonable set of estimates of the cost to Princeton to join the Worcester regional dispatch program, the assumptions that support them, and a draft Intermunicipal Agreement that would serve as the governance document.
Bill related his survey of Princeton Fire and EMS personnel relative to their interaction with dispatch. The common themes expressed were:
- There is a need for increased training for dispatchers with regard Fire/EMS calls to allow for responders to have more of the information they need.
- As there is a relatively low number of total Fire/EMS 911 calls, the part-time dispatches generally have little exposure to them. The part-time dispatchers need training that recognizes how infrequently these dispatchers might receive such a call.
- There are simulcast issues as there is not regular and routine broadcast of incident details by dispatchers which would allow information to be shared by all personnel and departments.
Charlie agreed that Fire/EMS training is not a major part of the current training.
Future Schedule
The Committee will next meet November 3 at which time it will attempt to bring its dispatch discussion to a conclusion if it has received requested information, identify next topic to investigate, and determine how it wishes to report to the Board of Selectmen.
Other Business
John read absent Committee Members Bill Comer’s and Jon Fudeman’s emails into the record.
The meeting adjourned at 9:16 PM by unanimous vote.
Respectfully Submitted,
John Lebeaux,
Town Administrator
Referenced Documents
Email from Jim Comer to Neil Sulmasy and John Lebeaux, October 22, 2010
Email from Jon Fudeman to John Lebeaux, October 27, 2010
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