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North Providence council hears plan to modernize century-old fire alarm boxes, refers ordinance to committee
Summary
Town officials described an aging wire-based Gamewell municipal alarm system, outlined a five-year plan to switch to radio-based "RadioBox" devices and proposed a $250 annual monitoring fee; the council referred the update to the Ordinance Committee for drafting.
North Providence town officials on Dec. 3 outlined plans to replace an antiquated municipal fire alarm network and asked the council to refer ordinance changes to the Ordinance Committee.
Ralph Nihigan, identified in the meeting as the town's Director of Communications, told the council the town still relies on a wired Gamewell system in many locations and that "most of our system and partially half of our wiring has been in town since the forties." North Providence Fire Chief John Horan said the legacy system limits responders' ability to pinpoint alarms and requires specialized maintenance from only a handful of technicians in the state.
The presenters described operational benefits of modern RadioBox devices that report zone- and floor-level information (for example, "Second Floor smoke detectors") so responders know where to direct apparatus before arrival. Officials said the change would reduce outages caused by damaged aerial cable and improve diagnostic detail from alarm panels.
Cost estimates discussed during the meeting included about $5,200 per new box for building owners and aggregate estimates for all affected facilities ranging from roughly $1.8 million to just under $2,000,000; presenters emphasized these totals apply to the collection of privately and municipally connected systems, not solely the town's operating budget. Nihigan and the chief proposed a five-year conversion schedule and said the town planned to add a $250 per-year maintenance/monitoring fee (with potential waiver for the first five years) that would fund monitoring and routine battery replacement while owners would pay component and installation costs.
Council members questioned whether the figures represented town liabilities or aggregate private-building costs and sought clarification about installation complexity. Chief Horan and Nihigan said most installations require short wiring runs from a building's fire control panel to a new radio box and that the town already has some sites converted; they stressed the public-safety benefits of more precise alarm zoning and reduced maintenance disruptions.
After discussion, the council voted to refer the proposed ordinance updates to the Ordinance Committee for drafting and further review. The referral does not enact the fee or conversion schedule; it moves the proposal to committee for ordinance language, cost analysis and a recommended timeline.
