Weston Select Board Unanimously Approves ARPA Funds for Police and Fire Radio Upgrade

WESTON — February 28, 2023 — Weston Select Board approves ARPA funds to fix police radio dead zones across town. The three-member board voted 3-0 at its February 28 meeting to authorize an American Rescue Plan Act expenditure for a joint police and fire communications upgrade after Police Chief Dennis Linehan described officers losing all radio contact with dispatch the moment they stepped out of cruisers on Norbeag Road. The police department's infrastructure and in-cruiser equipment is more than 25 years old; annual maintenance costs have risen from roughly $7,500 in FY 2016 to $15,000 today, Linehan said, calling current spending "just putting a band-aid on something that is truly broken." Fire Chief Woodside noted the department's own multi-site transmit system — which added transmitters at Cat Rock, Doublet Hill, and an MWRA tower at 55 Oak Street — had already solved the same coverage problem for fire, and the police upgrade would piggyback on that existing infrastructure. The board also appointed Joseph Dwyer to the Agriculture Commission for a term expiring in 2026.