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Coventry council weighs $99,000 police CAD replacement; staff to check CNREF before spending
Summary
Police Chief Peterson recommended replacing Coventry’s aging CAD system with NexGen; councilors discussed using $30,000 budgeted funds plus $45,000 from CNREF or the 1.5% fund for a $75,000 down payment, with remaining capital and training/maintenance costs to be budgeted next year.
At the March 23 Coventry Town Council meeting, Police Chief Peterson asked the council to approve replacing the department’s outdated computer‑aided dispatch (CAD) system with a product from NexGen, saying the vendor offered a discounted package and that the current system is no longer adequate for required state reporting.
Chief Peterson told councilors that the vendor quoted a discounted package costing $125,000 (reduced from an earlier $200,000 price), which covers the software, one year’s maintenance and training. The proposed purchase strategy discussed at the meeting was to pay $75,000 as a down payment prior to July 1, 2026 (using $30,000 currently budgeted for an outdated software update plus $45,000 from either CNREF or the town’s 1.5% fund), put the remaining $24,163 into next year’s capital budget, budget a one‑time $7,500 training expense in FY26/27, and add an $18,000 ongoing maintenance line beginning next year (first‑year maintenance was presented as $26,500 in the operations budget).
Chief Peterson described practical benefits: shared information among jurisdictions, routine transfer of legacy data by NexGen, integrated booking photos and fingerprinting, and state‑reporting capabilities. Council members generally favored pursuing NexGen but asked staff to confirm CNREF balances and potential impacts to reserve levels before committing funds. Councilor Mark Wheaton raised concerns about depleting CNREF; Town Manager James Drumm said CNREF or the 1.5% fund could cover the down payment if the council approves.
No final appropriation was approved at the March 23 meeting; the council reached consensus to continue discussion and asked for CNREF balance information at the next meeting.
