Wrentham Among Towns Exploring 911 Regionalization

Wrentham — along with Norfolk, Plainville and Franklin — is exploring the possibility of .

Town Manager William Ketcham brought the matter before the selectmen at their Tuesday meeting. He said the departments had looked over the matter, and a draft regionalization agreement had been written.

"There are things to be worked out, including the division of costs," he said. "That would be dependent on the proposed budget, and dependent on the facility."

Ketcham asked the board to request special legislation enabling the change from the state legislature.

"The reason for asking for special legislation is, if the town used the agreement method, one of the towns would have to take on the responsibility of paying personnel," he said. "That town would be responsible for salaries, workers compensation and health insurance."

Should the towns use special legislation, though, the responsiblity would be on the center itself.

"It would exist as a separate legal entity from the towns," he said. "It would be expected to hire its own executive director and divide the cost among the four towns."

He emphasized the fact that the legislation would not force the town into a regionalized center.

According to Ketcham, the center personnel would likely be a blend of dispatchers from the towns.

The selectmen voted to put the matter on the Town Meeting warrant.