By Adam Swift
The Revere City Council unanimously approved an intermunicipal agreement allowing Chelsea to join Revere and Winthrop in the Metro North Regional Emergency Communications Center (MNRECC).
Since the MNRECC began 15 years ago, Revere Mayor Patrick Keefe said the goal has always been to have three communities as a part of the regional dispatch center.
“For the last 15 years, we have been kind of chasing to get Chelsea back in because it really makes the most sense,” said Keefe. “When you have a regional 911 through the state, there are tiers one, two, and three. Revere and Winthrop operate currently as Tier 2 communities.”
When it comes down to state grants and funding, Keefe said Tier 1 communities, which the MNRECC should be classified as with Chelsea onboard, are eligible for more grant money and resources.
The MNRECC currently operates out of the Revere Police Station on Revere Beach Parkway, and the mayor said it is outgrowing its space from when the station first opened.
“We are in the process of rebuilding and putting a new regional 911 at the old McKinley School,” said Keefe. “It will be fully refurbished, state of the art, and it will be seismically reinforced, because if there is a hurricane or catastrophic event, we want to make sure the 911 communications and call center is operating.”
By bringing in a community like Chelsea, Keefe said the city would be eligible to receive upwards of $15 million in grant funding for the project.
Keefe said the communities will also save money by spreading out the overhead for the operations between three, rather than two, communities.
In addition to the 14,000-square-foot regional communications center at the old McKinley School, Keefe said ESSER Covid-relief funds will also be used for a 200-seat early childhood education center at the school. The city is also looking to use federal funds to refurbish the basement as a food hub and incubator in the basement.
“It is a big deal for the city of Revere and it is long overdue,” said Keefe.
Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltez said the conversations for his city to join the MNRECC have been ongoing for years.
“When I started my role in January of last year, it was one of the first things we got to work on,” said Maltez. “As you can imagine, there was a lot of selling that we had to do internally to our staff and our community. I am very proud that our city council voted on this proposal 11-0, and we are working through the growing pains, but I know this is going to be a benefit to all of the communities.”
Several Revere councilors praised the efforts to bring Chelsea into the regional dispatch center.
“It’s more money for public safety, it’s a huge win for not only Revere, but for Chelsea and Winthrop, as well,” said Councilor-at-Large Robert Haas III.
Councilor-at-Large Anthony Zambuto praised the mayor for his efforts in making the agreement a reality, noting that the regional dispatch center is something he was pushing for years ago.
“The funding we are going to get for this is unbelievable,” said Ward 2 Councilor Ira Novoselsky. “We have an older building we’ve all been screaming about for the last 10 years, and finally, we are going to get some funding to make things happen in that building.”