The Kennebunk Select Board has renewed a three-year contract with Sanford for dispatch services, but will continue to explore options. Tammy Wells photo
KENNEBUNK – The Kennebunk Select Board has renewed a three-year contract with the city of Sanford for police and fire dispatch and emergency 911 service.
Still, Kennebunk officials will continue to explore options and report back to the board in three months.
The cost of the contract is $377,050 in the first year, $392,132 in the second year, and $407,817 in the third year. The first year represents a 19 percent increase over the current year – a figure that prompted the previous board to seek options in September when the matter was discussed. Increases in years two and three are 4 percent.
Board chair Shiloh Schulte, who also served on the prior board, said he believed the town always intended to sign the contract with Sanford, but was looking for a range of options.
“The (police and fire) chiefs explored it but we’re not at a point to make a commitment elsewhere,” said Interim Town Manager Bryan Laverriere. He noted the proposed contract has a six-month “out ” clause, whereby the town can give notice they intend to terminate the contract, rather than a year.
Sanford provides dispatch service through Sanford Regional Communications Center, which serves law enforcement and fire and rescue departments in several communities in York County.
“The options we looked at with Wells aren’t viable,” said Police Chief Robert MacKenzie. He said Wells is unable to provide the level of staffing or service that would be required, and that costs would be similar. He said Kennebunkport had no interest. A third possibility was Biddeford, but he noted that its service is digital, which would mean substantial upgrades to Kennebunk’s radios and portables. He said Biddeford is one of the few communities, other than the state police, that have converted to a digital system.
“There doesn’t seem to be any current (further) options unless we go further out, which I don’t love,” said MacKenzie.
Schulte asked about a quality-of-service issue reported to the town last fall when a resident told a select board member that she got a busy signal for 20 minutes when she called the communications center.
“The best thing we can do is continue and if issues come up, make a point of bringing it to their attention, and continue to explore options,” said board member Kortney Nedeau, in part.
“It doesn’t sound to me like there are a lot of good options nearby,” said Schulte. “Maybe this was a one-off situation that will never be reported (again) but it is worth looking into the extent this service is meeting our needs adequately, effectively and comprehensively and if it’s not, maybe we do this for next three years but in the meantime try to figure out how we change over to digital and work with Biddeford.”
MacKenzie said there have been very few complaints over the last few years, and that those the police department have been informed of were caused by human error.
“They’re very minor in nature and could have happened at any dispatch center,” he said. “On the police side of things, service has been very good. It’s always good to keep the lines of communications open with Sanford, and we do.”
The board voted unanimously to approve the contract.
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