Finance panel backs Holbrook dispatch deal, 4-1

Finance Committee · Meeting of September 21, 2026

Marlborough's Finance Committee voted 4-1 to recommend joining the Holbrook Regional Emergency Communications Center for police and fire dispatch by July 2028. Mayor J. Christian Dumas said the city has lost 22 of 29 dispatchers hired over the past decade and can't keep pace with rising call volume on outdated technology.

Holbrook Director Stephen Hook said the state would cover 100 percent of Marlborough's roughly $750,000 annual assessment for three years, phasing down to 25 percent by year five, and that Marlborough's nine dispatchers could transfer at Holbrook's higher starting pay of about $78,000. Councilors pressed Hook on commute distance and local-knowledge gaps; Councilor Osteen countered, "I don't hear anybody screaming in Sudbury that the world's coming to an end." The committee also approved a companion ordinance amendment to Section 133-9 clarifying the city's authority to regionalize dispatch.

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Source: the Finance Committee meeting of September 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.