Wilton has signed an agreement to remain a partner with the Milford Area Communications Center for the next five years, after several years of efforts to lock member towns into longer-term contracts.
During its meeting on Monday, the board voted to extend the intermunicipal agreement for the next five years – compared to the two-year term of the current contract – and approved the budget for the coming year. Milford has also signed the agreement.
The communication center, known as MACC Base, is based in Milford, and is co-owned by Milford, Wilton and Mont Vernon. It also provides dispatch services for Lyndeborough Police Department as a customer.
Member towns have been at odds for nearly a decade over the agreement, as Milford has made several attempts over the years to pass a warrant to build a stand-alone communications center, with sole ownership. None of those warrants gained sufficient traction with Milford voters to pass, but the prospect of separating from the joint system made Milford reluctant to enter into a long-term extension of the town’s intermunicipal agreement.
The towns have also had disagreements over voting power. Currently, Milford holds 50 percent of the voting power on any decision relating to the system, which means Milford can stalemate a decision without support from either of the other member towns. This has caused disagreement, as Mont Vernon and Wilton have sought to make improvements to MACC Base’s current equipment and communications systems, but have been blocked by Milford.
Wilton Town Administrator Nick Germain said the agreement has some minor changes, but structurally is similar to the current agreement, except for the longer term, which is a concession the Wilton Select Board has been seeking.
“That Milford was willing to sign was a good sign from Wilton’s perspective,” Germain said.
The board also agreed to the overall MACC Base proposed 2023 budget of $860,725, which is about a 4 percent increase over last year’s budget.
Germain said the majority of the increase is attributed to additional salary for part-time help, which he said was a compromise alternative to hiring a new full-time-equivalent worker, which would have increased the budget by closer to 8 or 9 percent.
Wilton, which is responsible for 17 percent of the budget, is expected to pay $144,155 of the cost, Mont Vernon $95,610 and Milford $596,859. Lyndeborough, as a customer, is responsible for $24,100.
In other Select Board news, on Monday, the board voted to sell a 1936 fire department muster truck. The truck is not part of the department’s operational fleet and has been stored in a resident’s garage for several years, Germain said.
The board intends to put the vehicle out for bid. Information about the vehicle is expected to be posted to the town’s website. Anyone who is interested in purchasing the vehicle must submit a sealed bid to Wilton Town Hall with a proposed price by Nov. 21 at 5 p.m.
In a separate matter, the board also voted to accept records from the New Hampshire Municipal Association related to inquiries made by the town in legal matters.
The town pays dues to be a member of the association, which provides them with certain services, including providing legal opinions, according to Germain. The association has accumulated records related to those requests, and gave the town the opportunity to claim those records before they were removed from the municipal association’s system. The Wilton Select Board voted to accept and keep those records.
The Select Board meets next on Monday at 6 p.m. in the Town Hall.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.