EAST LONGMEADOW – The town of Southwick recently agreed to be part of a potential Hampden County Regional Emergency Communication Center (RECC), making it the sixth community to join in the planning phase for the project.

The other towns that are represented on the Regional 911 Emergency Communication District Planning Committee include Hampden, Wilbraham, Ludlow, East Longmeadow, and Longmeadow. The committee unanimously agreed for Southwick to become a member at its July 14 meeting at the East Longmeadow fire station.

Longmeadow Town Manager Stephen Crane, who serves as chair of the committee, told Reminder Publications after the meeting he believes Southwick is a “welcome addition” to the project.

“One of the things that has really bound the original five communities together, which I think is applicable to Southwick, is we are all suburban or rural communities,” he explained. “We share many of the same approaches to dispatch and policing, so Southwick is a natural fit. Based on the models that we’ve seen across the state, the more communities you have, the less it costs to operate the RECC per community.”

Southwick Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart said the town’s Select Board wants the community to participate in the planning process to evaluate the financial aspect of being part of a potential Hampden County RECC.

“We’ll be able to look at that and weigh it against how we currently operate, both going forward with our chiefs participating on the committees, and to see what types of benefits there may be so that we can share that with our townspeople,” he explained. “There is a direction at the highest levels of the Commonwealth to start regionalizing functions and this is one function that would lend itself to studying.”

Stinehart said Southwick has participated in the planning process during the past several months after being invited by the lead consultant for the project, the Carell Group, as well as the committee.

During the meeting, Longmeadow Police Chief John Stankiewicz asked if grant funding could be affected by adding another community to the RECC because the committee applied as a five-town RECC.

“It’s actually pretty minimal for where you guys are,” Regional Public Safety Answering Point Coordinator for the State 911 Department Christine Wingfield responded. “All I would require is a letter … from the town of Southwick to be added to that previously funded fiscal year and that will encompass them.”

The main site being explored for the project is located at the Ludlow Mills complex on State Street in Ludlow, Crane said after the meeting.

“It has some advantages,” he explained. “The Carell Group has taken a look at it. We have a facility subcommittee that’s getting into greater depth … That is really the only site we’re focusing on. Right now, as we get through our layers of analysis, the site does look favorable.”

He added space at the Ludlow Mills complex is likely adequate for the project.

The committee anticipates applying for additional grant funding sometime before the end of this year or early in 2017, Crane said.

“The State 911 Office provides the funding for this and they have a timeline when they announce their grants and when things have to be submitted,” he explained.

“Right now, we’re funded by a $150,000 grant, which is a planning grant. We are engaged in the planning process and the end product of this phase should be a grant application for the next phase, which would be design and construction,” he continued.

Crane said a district agreement would need to be approved by the different communities in order to the committee to apply for the next round of grant funding. He anticipates all communities responding to the proposal of a district agreement by the end of 2016.

Ludlow Police Chief Paul Madera said the site at the Ludlow Mills would be a renovated stockhouse building, some of which were built in the early 1900s.

“There’s a serious investment, as a former brownfield, to bring it back for public use,” he noted.

He added the site would be regionally and centrally located and also have technology access.

According to information from Westmass, the company redeveloping the location, the amount of lease space available is 1,500 square feet to 70,000 square feet.

Got a comment about this story? Go to http://speakout.thereminder.com and let us know.