Board OKs $1 million grant, weighs regional dispatch

Select Board · Meeting of August 24, 2026

Northborough Select Board weighed a possible shift to regional 911 dispatch and approved a $1 million state grant for dam removal. Members heard two hours of testimony from Metro West Regional Emergency Communications Center Director Brian Smith and consultant Mark Cady on joining a Westborough-based dispatch center still roughly a year from opening; no vote was taken. One speaker warned regionalizing would cost "six full-time, maybe seven full-time" dispatcher jobs with "42-plus years of experience." The board voted 4-0, with Vice Chair Michael Tietjen absent, to accept the $1 million Massachusetts EEA grant for removing the Northborough Reservoir Dam, plus a $21,000 Worcester County comfort dog grant and fiscal 2028 budget guidelines directing departments to prepare level-funded and up-to-3-percent budget scenarios amid a projected $2 million gap.

In the full story:

• Public Comment: Cell Tower Appeal and Downtown Growth
• Regional Emergency Dispatch: Governance, Costs and Local Pushback
• $21,000 Comfort Dog Grant
• Applefest Liquor License and Road Closure
• $1 Million Dam Removal Grant
• Fiscal 2028 Budget Goals
• Economic Development Survey
• Administrative Reports: Zoning Law Changes, DCAM Site and Town Hall Carpet
• Minutes and Future Agenda Items
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,841 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of August 24, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.