Rindge has been gifted a matching grant to purchase two electronic message boards for use by the town’s Emergency Management departments.

Fire Chief and Director of Life Safety Rickard Donovan said the town has a similar electronic board that was purchased at auction years ago, but several of the lights on it have failed.

The matching grant, which includes a contribution of a $20,000 Emergency Management Performance Gran, and $20,000 of town funds, will purchase two new signs, one to replace the town’s current sign, which is usually posted by the town transfer station, and a second one which will spend most of its time at the intersection of Route 202 and Route 119.

The signs are solar-powered, and the message is able to be changed remotely.

Donovan said during the height of COVID-19, the town accepted funds from the state to display emergency messages related to the virus on its electronic sign. Those funds will be put toward matching the $20,000 from the Emergency Management Performance Grant.

The signs will mainly be used to inform the public about emergencies and also important town events such as ballot voting and Town Meeting. They are not used to advertise local businesses or fundraising events.

The Select Board voted to accept the funds Wednesday, and Donovan said he expects to purchase and have the signs in service by this spring.

In additional Fire Department news, during Wednesday’s meeting, the Select Board also approved $3,600 in American Rescue Plan Act grant funding to install tablets in department vehicles.

Donovan said the tablets themselves have already been paid for, with funds through the Locality Equipment Purchase Program, which provides support for New Hampshire towns to purchase safety and emergency equipment needed to respond health crises.

Tablets will be installed in four vehicles, and will be used to track property information and access pre-plans and building layouts during fires, and can be used for patient information-gathering and reporting.

“In a lot of aspects, we’re looking toward preserving confidential information, instead of putting it over the radio. It also helps the amount of radio traffic, so we’re not burdening the system with that.” Donovan said.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com.