![]() The 911 Grant Program, which is jointly administered by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), provides funding to upgrade today’s 911 services so that citizens, first responders, and 911 call-takers can use up-to-date technologies to coordinate emergency responses. Department of Transportation released the preliminary funding allocations for the 911 Grant Program that will offer up to $110 million to help states, territories, tribal organizations and the District of Columbia upgrade their 911 call centers to Next Generation (NG911) capabilities. The ordinance will require a second vote of the council before it can take effect.Today, the U.S. Ralph Figy said he was surprised to learn that bicycles are currently banned from all sidewalks in Westfield.įigy said it would make sense to exclude bicycles in some areas, which the ordinance would allow to be designated by signs or painted notices on the sidewalk, but “we don’t want to blanket the whole city” with a ban. In another vote on June 30, councilors supported an ordinance amendment to allow bicycles to be ridden on sidewalks, unless otherwise posted. Bruce, who is currently the assistant city clerk, will fill the vacancy caused by the recent retirement of City Clerk Karen Fanion, who had served in that post since 1998. Westfield councilors also agreed with Mayor Michael McCabe’s selection of Kaitlyn Bruce as interim city clerk for a 60-day term. Other expenses being paid by state grants include $133,669.59 in salaries, $9,578.35 in computers (out of a $40,000 expense), $6,566.68 in radio consoles (out of a $9,850 expense), $24,446.28 for fees, software, overtime pay and lodging for dispatcher training, and $564.46 to purchase cards that serve as a hardcopy backup detailing the dispatch system’s medical response protocols. She said she was told that the dispatch center’s chairs are specially designed to be sat in, and remain comfortable, 24 hours a day by different people in each shift. Matthews-Kane said in reviewing the other grants as chair of the council’s Finance Committee, she only questioned one item, a $1,069.30 expense for a single chair in the dispatch center. She also said the equipment being added to the Westfield dispatch center will give the city more dispatch capacity, perhaps to take on additional towns as regional dispatch clients in the future. Southwick and Westfield have committed to merging their 911 systems, said Matthews-Kane, and these are expenses that would have had to come from local taxpayers if they hadn’t been paid by the state. The majority of the grant is split, about evenly, between new equipment for the dispatch center and salaries of Westfield dispatch staff involved in the transition. The regionalization grant includes $15,400 to build a lobby at the Southwick Fire Station, and $4,677 to equip it with cameras so that remote dispatchers in Westfield can monitor it. ![]() They only had $30 million to give, and $50 million in requests.” ![]() “All the money taken in will be spent by both Westfield and Southwick toward the new regional approach,” said Councilor Bridget Matthews-Kane. The council voted unanimously to receive the four grants from the state Office of Public Safety, the largest of which – for $314,108 – was specifically written to cover some of the costs of integrating Southwick’s emergency response into the Westfield operation. ![]() WESTFIELD - The City Council on June 30 accepted more than half a million dollars in grant funds for the city’s 911 dispatch center, including state payments to refit the Southwick Fire Department lobby when that town’s dispatch center regionalizes with Westfield. ![]()
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