[Ed note: My Southborough accepts signed letters to the editor submitted by Southborough residents. Letters may be emailed to mysouthborough@gmail.com.
The following letter is from John Butler.]
To the Editor:
The plan to create a new 911 regional dispatch center on land in Westborough that had been a contaminated Superfund site has already concluded in failure. Westborough Select Board has voted to abandon the plan to use that site. The hasty exit came, reportedly, after some noxious odors on the site demanded further investigation and no one in Westborough could say who was responsible, or how long it would require to diagnose and remediate the site yet again. The two Towns that had been clinging to this doomed plan, Westborough and Grafton, may now be thinking how fortunate they were that the gasses, or whatever it is, emerged from the ground now, rather than after they had sunk millions of dollars into the site, only to have it become unusable.
Southborough residents may recall that last year Southborough’s then Select Board by a 4-1 vote (Kathy Cook the nay) signed on to this plan even after Mrs. Phaneuf pointed out the risks at one of their meetings. Alarmed that this choice of site, which was written as a requirement into the contract between the Towns, would subject Southborough to financial and other risks if the site later turned bad, Mrs. Phaneuf and I sponsored a Citizen Petition at Annual Town Meeting last March recommending immediate withdrawal from the contract. Select Board vigorously opposed our warrant on the floor, claiming the risks were not serious. Town Meeting had no difficulty with the question, and voted nearly unanimously to recommend withdrawal. The Select Board eventually did vote to withdraw, citing, in its letter to Westborough, the factor of a Citizen Petition supported at Town Meeting. Why it should have come to that, that we needed to try to force the Select Board to get out of a plan that had risk written all over it, is beyond my comprehension. (In fairness, however, a majority of our new Select Board, seated after last year’s Town election, opposed the plan. Ms. Cook voted against the plan at the outset, and Mr. Hamilton and Ms. Landry, now members, were not on the Board at the time of these events but spoke against the IMA as candidates.)
Lessons: Select Board asking for the approval of Town Meeting on big questions is a good idea. The goal of the Select Board should be to listen to Town Meeting, not to control it. Better things happen when it listens respectfully. Lastly, to our new Select Board, remember, Town Meeting has voted, in the same Warrant that recommended withdrawal, that it does not want Regional Dispatch without having a chance to issue a recommendation on the topic. Don’t forget that.
John Butler
4 Davis Road
Thank you John for stating the hard facts on this issue! At the town meeting I spoke of the proposed site knowing the real story on the contamination of that site! The other factor is if regionalization was to happen all dispatchers that have devoted years of service would need to reapply and start from scratch. All benefits are lost as well as seniority right up to retirement! What kind of town official would want this type of action for hardworking dedicated employees?? Not the kind I support! They have all done an outstanding job and don’t deserve this type of action. Lastly I have a lifelong friend who dedicated his life to being a firefighter in Marlboro. We have had lengthy conversations on regional dispatching and in every instance it was a massive failure! We voted it down in that meeting what don’t the Select Board understand about the vote the N or the O??
Totally agree with comments above,
by John Butler and Mike Pojani.
One question: Why did we build such a large, expensive new public safety building, and THEN consider evicting all the dispatchers to a new regional facility in another town ?
As many will recall, I opposed the prior regional dispatch proposal. However, as I made it clear when I ran for the Select Board I am not in principle opposed to Regional Dispatch.
In the past 8 months, along with Mr. Stivers, the 2 Chiefs, and the Town Administrator we have been making an extensive review of regional dispatch operations. We have visited regional dispatch operations (Regional Dispatch Centers or RECC’s) in Holbrook, Devens, and Foxborough. We have had discussions with Marlborough, Framingham, and Sudbury. We are in the process of re engaging with the Westborough RECC. No decision has been reached but important information has come to the fore:
If we passed the budget, as it stands today, taxpayers would be looking at an 8% to 9% tax increase next year. The necessary increase in dispatch headcount is a significant part of this increase. We cannot reasonably consider this increase without full evaluation of the alternatives.
I am as big a fan of Town Meeting as anyone. I have regularly defended the bodies prerogatives and privileges and will continue to do so. However, Inter Municipal Agreements are not among the authorities that fall under its purview. I encourage a robust debate on this subject but the first place to hold them is before the Select Board, the body that is responsible for the decision. Town meeting should be briefed on the status of this effort and if a citizen wants to bring a motion reaffirming town meetings position I would support re opening the warrant to include it but in the end the decision belongs to the Select Board and that is where the full debate should happen. It is your government and your responsibility to make your voice heard.