Switch To Area Communications Center?

A default budget means tough choices and sacrifices, and it is now up to the town of Amherst to make these necessary changes.

The Board of Selectmen recently to get feedback on where to cut in order to slim down the budget by $242,035. The Amherst Citizens Association presented their ideas, which included shifting back to the Milford Area Communications Center (MACC Base).

Amherst stopped using MACC Base in 2005 in favor of their own public safety communications center. Five full-time employees, along with four part-timers, provide dispatching services for the town's police, fire, EMS and public works departments 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The center fields about 50,000 calls annually, according to their website.

The ACA proposal would have a major impact on the town’s emergency services, and was met with criticism by town officials and Amherst Police Chief Peter Lyon at the public hearing.

Amherst Patch talked to both sides on Friday to get a clearer view on their positions.

A “Regressive” Move

Amherst Police Chief Peter Lyon said that the town originally looked to leave MACC Base due to increasing costs and concerns about the quality of service.

“It was more of a reality to pull out and dispatch for ourselves then,” said Lyon.

He said that having its own dispatch center allowed the town to address such service problems, rather than go through another town’s governing body. On top of that, the move was more cost-effective for Amherst.

Lyon said that the savings presented in the ACA’s proposal to switch to MACC Base are “really a wash.” 

The ACA reported that MACC Base is offering their services to Amherst for $244,487, which would be less than the $370,000 budgeted for the communications center in FY13. However, Lyon said that this does not factor the 76-80 hours of dispatching needed from his department during the day.

He said this adds an estimated $125,000 in additional costs, which would be about the same total as returning to MACC Base. While there have been quality issues in the past, Lyon said he is unsure of where the service stands today.

“For about the same amount of money, we can perform the service for ourselves here,” he said. “And we can address issues immediately.”

Lyon said that the ACA claims that MACC Base would provide adequate staffing and there would be no need for self dispatching, but that is not the case. He claims the center would only be able to provide two dispatchers for midnight coverage, and the town would still need to keep the police station open during the day.

He added that the sheer size of the population MACC Base covers presents an issue when it comes to services to Amherst.

“The ACA thinks that having two people for 24/7 coverage is enhanced service, but you need to factor in that they would be dispatching for 32,000 people,” he said.”

Town Administrator Jim O’Mara said Friday that he would be concerned about the priority given to Amherst residents if MACC Base were to have multiple calls at once. While he said every possibility is worthy of examination, he does not see this shift in public safety communications as a solution.

He said he would rather have control over the dispatch personnel to ensure that the town is being covered by quality employees, and any issues can be dealt with immediately. Plus, these employees would be more familiar with locations in town and would be better prepared to deal with possible snags, including redundant street names.

In addition, O’Mara said that dispatch center employees supplement clerical staff at the police station during periods of low call volume. Eliminating them would mean that the town would have to hire more clerical staff, which would be another increase in costs.

Lyon said that Amherst’s dispatch center backs up MACC base when needed, and vice versa. These mutual aid agreements have been important during weather-related emergencies where one town may require such assistance.

He added that there would be additional costs to rejoining MACC BASE, including equipment costs and the price of maintaining this equipment. For example, in order to connect to MACC Base, Lyon said that the town would need to pay $10,000 a year on a continual basis.

O’Mara, along with the Board of Selectmen, say that this proposal is “regressive” and not in the best interest of the community.

“You should not stop and experiment with public safety,” said O’Mara.

A Positive Shift

ACA member Tedd Landon said Friday that his organization’s proposal is a strong option for the town to save money and improve service.

“The only conclusion I can draw, for the benefit of everybody in Amherst, for the safety and the pocketbook, is that it makes sense to go back to MACC Base,” said Landon.

He clarified his points in a letter, which was based on reader comments on our initial coverage on the ACA’s proposal.

First, he said that The 9/11 Commission Report alludes to the fact that members of seperate public safety departments had difficulty communicating during the terrorist attacks in New York in 2001.

He believes that a regional communications center like MACC Base creates efficient communication between departments during large emergencies.

Landon refutes Lyons’ claim that the cost of operating our own dispatching center is close to the cost of returning to MACC Base. He said that Amherst would not need to provide self dispatching if fully covered by the neighboring center. 

In addition, MACC Base has proposed $199,570, which “represents the Amherst portion if it chooses to dispatch 80 hours a week.”

He proposes that the dispatch coordinator position could be downsized considerably, since management duties could be shifted to the police chief under MACC Base. The current coordinator makes $45,000, and that could easily be reduced, according to Landon.

“Why pay him for management when we wouldn’t have to do management?” he said on Friday.

Landon also said that the dispatch center is not needed for sanctuary during an emergency, as there are other options nearby, including the EMS department and fire station.

As far as equipment costs are concerned, Landon said that there is a “lot of money in the communications center capital reserve fund. He said that cost to convert ACC antennas to MACC Base would be a one-time cost of $20,000.

“The Amherst Communications Center was an experiment that looked good when presented by a previous Town Administrator, but careful examination of the results illustrates good intentions and a desire for local control cost Amherst taxpayers more and make us less safe,” wrote Landon in his letter.

The board of selectmen have until June 30 to develop their budget.