Public Safety Communications task force lays out methodical review; final report expected in May

Commissioner Jennifer Morrison, co-chair of the Vermont Public Safety Communications Task Force, updated the Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee on the task force’s work under Act 78 and said the task force expects a final draft of a system-design report in early May and will hold another round of public engagement before making prioritized recommendations.

The task force was created by Act 78 (the 2023 “Big Bill”), and Morrison told the committee the Legislature earmarked $11 million in general funds for the effort, with up to $2 million allocated for the contracted design and expertise described in the law and two further $4.5 million allotments set aside for pilots and later implementation. To date, Morrison said, the effort has spent $879,668; that total includes per diem payments, contractor fees and outreach costs.

Morrison said the task force has hired Televate as project manager and trusted advisor and Mission Critical Partners to produce the system-design work required by Act 78. Mission Critical Partners visited the state’s dispatch facilities and prepared what Morrison described as a roughly 550-page inventory report and an…