Charlton Select Board Unanimously Approves Letter of Intent for Regional Dispatch

CHARLTON -- September 9, 2025, Charlton Select Board votes unanimously to join regional dispatch, blocks senior center study funding. The board on September 9 approved a letter of intent to join the Central Mass Regional Communications Center, contingent on Finance Committee approval expected the following week, following a presentation by Police Chief Rob Dowd, Fire Chief Dan Barton, CMRCC Executive Director Michael Moriarty, and State 911 Special Projects Director Peter Kinnis. Dowd told the board, "We're putting Band-Aids on staffing where we really should be two or three people at all times." The vote came after board member David Sanger secured verbal assurances that the police station would not go dark and that current Charlton dispatchers would receive first-hire priority under the district agreement's signing-order preference. In a separate, lengthy debate, the board declined to advance a $50,000 capital appropriation for due-diligence studies on the former Charlton Furniture building on Dresser Hill Road as a potential senior center site, with Sanger and members Steve Lansat and Pete Jones citing a competing $30 million estimated capital need at Heritage School and insufficient town revenue to support both.