Aquinnah selectmen agreed to put a proposal by the Dukes County sheriff’s office to fund maintenance of a new E911 system on town warrant during a weekly meeting Tuesday.
Sheriff Robert Ogden and director of administration and finance for the sheriff’s office Peter Graczykowski, who have been making stops all across the Island, told selectmen they had received $1.5 million from the commonwealth to fund the first phase of development for the plan.
The plan is a four-phase approach, which calls for continued maintenance and improvement of the system. Graczykowski said there will be no money coming from the state for long-term maintenance and additions to the system, so the sheriff’s office is asking for money from all Island towns.
“The state said they were willing to develop the system, but they are not willing to maintain it once it’s in place. So we are back requesting support from all of the towns,” Ogden said. The sheriff’s proposal has also been put on the town warrants for the five other towns.
“For the next fiscal year, we are requesting $22,778 from Aquinnah. This amount is apportioned from the total maintenance cost needed for next fiscal year, which is $237,000 and some change,” Graczykowski said.
Graczykowski explained the 50/50 formula is based 50 percent on call volume, then 50 percent on dividing the overall cost between each town.
Selectman Jim Newman viewed the projected costs and wondered why there was such a large jump in cost during year two.
Ogden said the increase in maintenance cost over time is because the system is going to be built up more and more every year. “Every year, there is more equipment being built into the system,” he said.
Graczykowski told Newman the development is projected to take place over five years, but if the sheriff’s office gets money from the state faster, the development time could be truncated.
“This could be a three-year development, in which case these costs could vary,” he said.
$1.5 million is a little steep for some telephones.
But seriously don’t buy into this – it’s the states responsibility, NOT any of the towns. Once we open this door we can’t close it. Ogden should be advocating on behalf of the towns and his department- instead he is lobying for the state to essentially steal tax dollars for something they were never intended to fund.
Vote no!