Winthrop Town Council Briefed on 911 Center as Chelsea Votes to Join Regional Dispatch

WINTHROP -- March 4, 2025, Winthrop Town Council hears that Chelsea's unanimous 11-0 vote to join the regional 911 center will add dispatchers and trigger a $14-15 million state-funded renovation. Police Chief Wiley, chairman of the Metro North Regional Emergency Communication Center board, told councilors Tuesday that Winthrop's annual assessment to the REC stands at roughly $440,000, and that adding Chelsea will grow daytime staffing from roughly six dispatchers and call takers to ten. Wiley also displayed the town's 12-year-old evacuation plan, calling a full-town evacuation "extraordinarily unlikely" and emphasizing shelter-in-place as the primary strategy. Town Manager Tony Simonelli reported that the MBTA has requested a one-year ferry lease extension to June 30, 2026, and that structural repair bids for the Pauline Street fire station have been pushed to April 10, five days after the April 5 special election in which voters will decide on a $3.5 million school operating override and a fire station debt exclusion.