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Board hears that $1 million grant will fund regional move to ProSuite dispatch system
Summary
At the Jan. 21 Board of Governors meeting, the director reported a $1,000,000 CVS grant to support three communications centers’ migration to Central Square’s ProSuite CAD and outlined year‑one costs (~$710,000), year‑two software costs (~$275,000), expected savings from a consortium model, and a multi‑phase phone/VoIP plan.
At the Board of Governors meeting on Jan. 21, the director reported that the communications‑center consortium was awarded a $1,000,000 CVS grant to support migration to Central Square’s ProSuite computer‑aided dispatch (CAD) system and related telephony upgrades. The board was told the grant has been awarded but the funds had not yet been received.
The director said the consortium’s year‑one procurement and implementation cost is about $710,000 and the year‑two software maintenance cost is about $275,000, bringing the combined year‑one and year‑two total to just over $986,000. “I’m ecstatic that we got $1,000,000,” the director said. The director added that the grant will substantially reduce the per‑center cost and provide regional redundancy among the three communications centers and nine served communities.
Board member Craig Fry said the award covers the core procurement and noted the board will need to finalize exact licensing and maintenance allocations before signing contracts. The director walked the board through the consortium rationale: shared cloud servers, consolidated CAD cores and user profiles that would allow one center’s dispatcher to log in and operate for another community during outages.
The director also described a related telephone upgrade. He said existing 2021 equipment is not fully VoIP‑capable and that implementation will be done in phases: (1) update or replace core equipment to handle current operations and planned expansion, (2) convert copper lines to VoIP through the consolidated provider, and (3) deploy new handsets. He said contract structuring could spread buyout costs over a 36‑month term to make the purchase palatable.
Officials cautioned about ongoing costs and timing. The director noted that, even with grant procurement covered for initial years, maintenance costs move onto each community’s default budget after implementation and some boards may experience “sticker shock” for the first year of transition. He estimated a roughly 14‑month timeline and said the consortium expects to begin using the system in early 2027.
Board members asked about contingency risks, including vendor support for legacy IMC systems; the director said ProSuite maintenance escalates more slowly than IMC maintenance and that a consolidated approach should be cheaper over several years. He also flagged an external risk: potential federal funding disruptions tied to a threatened government shutdown.
The board did not take a formal vote on the procurement at this meeting. The director said staff will finalize figures, present them to each town board, and coordinate a united consortium response before contracts are executed. The next board meeting was set for Feb. 18.
Ending: The board moved on after the presentation; the director said staff will return with final numbers and that individual town boards will review the procurement before any contract is finalized.
