Strafford County moves to replace aging dispatch CAD and RMS systems; $715,000 grant to upgrade radios for towns

Justin, a county presenter, told the delegation the top item in the six‑year capital plan is a replacement of the county’s computerized dispatch (CAD) and records management system (RMS), saying the current vendor has “significantly cut back support” and will not provide a firm end‑of‑life date for the legacy product. He said the RMS is used by the dispatch center, the sheriff’s office and the towns the county dispatches for, while the three cities maintain their own systems.

The package would be financed by bonding, Justin said, with staff monitoring market rates and discussing bond terms. On the price and repayment period, presenters and commissioners debated limiting the bond length for electronic systems — noting rapid obsolescence — and weighing 10‑ versus 20‑year structures. Justin said staff are preparing detailed repayment schedules for the executive committee.

Commissioners pressed staff on continuity and data protection. Justin said the system is backed up to redundant storage every 15 minutes and that, in the event of a system outage, the office currently maintains paper/Excel back‑ups to record activity until digital services are restored. He stressed the importance of historic data: the new RMS proposal includes conversion of archived records so older reports remain readable in the replacement system.

Interoperability with municipal vendor choices emerged as a focal point. Commissioners cited earlier problems when towns adopted different vendors and could not view each other’s records; staff emphasized vendor selection would prioritize preserving cross‑jurisdictional name‑checks and record access. On that point Justin said the county prefers a hosted, county‑managed solution so towns convert once and avoid individual, duplicative migrations.

Funding and local impacts: staff said the overall capital ask is in the low millions and would be bonded so towns would not face a sudden one‑time bill. Justin also announced the county has secured a $715,000 federal grant, which “all of which is going to be used to enhance the end‑user” radios for the towns the county dispatches for; towns will receive those grant funds and were asked not to spend locally budgeted radio money that could be reimbursed by the grant.

Timing and next steps: staff described a phased implementation with parallel testing and the old system kept active during cutover. The target window was 18 months from budget approval, with staff asking the executive committee to forward the CIP to the delegation for a September consideration date.

The delegation did not vote on the item at the meeting; staff asked the executive committee for a recommendation and said final decisions would be taken by the full delegation later in the capital cycle.