Local Dispatch Will Continue To Serve Marlboro; Upgrades Planned

MARLBORO, NJ — The Marlboro Township Council has voted to keep police, emergency medical, and fire dispatch local, with approximately $4 million allocated to pay for upgrades to improve the system.

In unanimous votes, the council approved a resolution authorizing a New Jersey Interoperable Communications System user agreement with the state, and it authorized a contract with Motorola, Inc. for communications equipment and accessories for the local Department of Public Safety.

Mayor Jon Hornik, who has consistently supported keeping the service local despite some calls in the past year to consider a contract with Monmouth County, said the township can now move forward to improve the service.

"This is the best way to keep the township self-sufficient," he said.

Police Chief Peter Pezzullo presented the council with a study that outlined current problems and the options to address them.

Current communications components have reached the end of their useful life, he said. Inadequate frequencies have meant emergency personnel dispatched to incidents can hit dead spots in a building where they don't have communication or they experience interference from commercial broadcast stations, he said.

He said the department researched various options to correct these conditions, and rejected a "Band-Aid" approach of making limited repairs. It also rejected using the county as the answering point for township public safety calls out of concern for response times and the need to make local response a priority.

Hornik noted that a crisis such as Superstorm Sandy could overwhelm a county system, but Marlboro would be self-sufficient.

Pezzullo said his department recommended keeping the dispatch services local but with the support of the state Interoperable Communications System, which offers high band frequencies and top equipment, he said, such as new radios for first responders and new dispatch consoles.

This way, the township can remain its own public safety answering point with local control and self-sufficiency.

Pezzullo noted that he was raised in the township and feels a deep connection to it.

"I want to serve all the people, providing them the best product," he said at the Nov. 10 meeting.

And Hornik said the plan is "absolutely the best way to deliver the fastest emergency response times to Marlboro residents."

Emergency services in the township also were the recipient of a $50,000 donation, presented at the start of the meeting.

The donation was presented by a representative of the Ray Catena car dealership organization and will be divided with $25,000 for the Police Department and the remainder for the fire departments in town - a contribution that can also help with the upgrades to the dispatch system. Hornik gave a warm thank you to the company for the donation at the presentation.