CONGRESSMAN SETH MOULTON (center) learned about a federal grant application for the new Emergency Operations Center that will be located in the new Fire Headquarters during a site visit to the Al Merritt Center on May 30. From left, Fire Capt. Kevin Mutti, Regional Director Tom Arsenault, Deputy Fire Chief Jim Wallace, Moulton, Police Chief Nick Secatore, Police Capt. Chris DeCarlo, Fire Chief/Emergency Management Director Glenn Davis, Interim Superintendent Tom Geary and Town Administrator Rob Dolan. (Dan Tomasello Photo)

 

By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — Congressman Seth Moulton learned about a federal emergency operations center grant that the town has applied for during a site visit to the Al Merritt Media and Cultural Center on May 30.

Fire Chief/Emergency Management Director Glenn Davis and Police Chief Nick Secatore have applied for a $1.3 million federal grant for the $63.5 million public safety buildings and Town Hall project. Davis recalled in an interview with the Villager that the third story of the new Fire Headquarters in South Lynnfield will include an Emergency Operations Center.

“It is federal grant money for emergency operations centers through the Department of Homeland Security,” said Davis. “At this level, it is called congressional directed spending. Congressman Moulton can bring things forward to the Appropriations Committee at the state level, get it approved and then bring it forward to the federal level for final approval. We are in the application process. Seventy-five percent is federal funds and the remaining 25 percent would be matched by the community.”

Secatore informed the Villager that the town will not need to appropriate any additional funds to get the grant because voters have already approved the public safety buildings project.

“It would bring the Emergency Operations Center to a whole other level with technology,” said Secatore.

Town Administrator Rob Dolan said during the site visit that he is “very happy” Lynnfield is in the running to get the grant.

“This would be a game changer for us,” said Dolan.

Moulton said he is “very proud” to represent small towns such as Lynnfield in the Sixth Congressional District.

“A lot of colleagues of mine in Washington represent pretty boring districts,” said Moulton. “I love the fact that you go around the Sixth District in Massachusetts, and you really have small towns with character. People know that Lynnfield is different than Lynn, and Lynnfield is different than Wakefield. I recognize that every community has different needs, and we try to be helpful. Since I started this job in 2015, we haven’t had that much engagement directly with Lynnfield. That has changed, and we want to be helpful with ideas and requests. I think you will find that if you come to my office, we try to be very transparent and straightforward. If you ask for help and we can’t deliver, we will tell you that. But on the other hand, there are a lot of ways including different federal grants where we really can be helpful.”

Similar to other small communities, Davis said Lynnfield currently does not have a dedicated emergency operations center.

“During COVID, we took over the Senior Center,” said Davis. “We rearranged it, set up computers and tables, used internal supplies and we operated there for the entire pandemic. We made it function.”

Davis said the new Emergency Operations Center will be “state-of-the art.”

“The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency has done a site visit and supports the need for this to be able communicate with MEMA if need be or with the DPW during snow emergencies,” said Davis. “God forbid we have another pandemic, we would be able to work on that. It will give us full capabilities at the federal, state and local level.”

Dolan said the new Emergency Operations Center could be used for regional meetings during emergencies due to Fire Headquarters’ close proximity to Route 95/128 and Route 1.

“It could also be used for public meetings because it would be locked off from the rest of the building,” said Dolan. “A regional meeting could be held there if there is an issue. We will have the capability to film meetings there. We could run all of Town Hall from that third floor if we had to.”

Moulton asked if the Police and Fire Departments would staff the Emergency Operations Center.

Davis said yes.

“I am currently the emergency management director in town, and Police Capt. Chris DeCarlo is my deputy emergency management director,” said Davis. “We have got that covered from a leadership level. Our Emergency Management Team meets on the third Monday of every month. We have representation from all department heads, the Select Board and the Health Department.”

Moulton asked if there are any similar emergency operations centers in the area.

Davis said MEMA informed him there are “very few municipalities who are taking advantage of this grant.”

“The MEMA director fully supports this,” said Davis. “We spoke at length about how it would function and operate.”

Moulton’s Regional Director Tom Arsenault said the town’s grant application is in a “good place.”

“When I spoke with MEMA about their advocacy on it, that really bolstered it as well as getting letters from them and the local delegation,” said Arsenault. “It seems there is a lot of buy-in from the community for it. We are in a good place as it stands now. If there comes a point where we need additional materials for it, we have all of the contacts now.”

Moulton encouraged local officials to frequently communicate with Arsenault throughout the grant application process.

“When there is really good communication, that is helpful because there are oftentimes when we need additional information,” said Moulton. “There are some towns that are really responsive and there are other towns that are not. Keeping the lines of communication open is really helpful.”

Dolan asked Moulton if Congress supports these types of emergency management grants.

“Yes in general,” said Moulton. “The reality is a lot of conservative members of Congress right now just don’t want federal funding for anything even when it improves their own communities. These are the people who voted against the bipartisan infrastructure law, and then go out every time a new bridge opens and do a big press conference in front of it. They are total hypocrites because it does hurt their own communities when they vote against it. When we put forward our community project grants, we have a whole process and different towns apply. After you win approval from us after a competitive process, that money still has to get appropriated. It was a big fight just to get that appropriation for this past year, and it just came through.”

Dolan said the town will do whatever is necessary to get the grant.

“When we got the call that this grant was making the progress that it is, we were so happy because, as you know, it is rare,” said Dolan. “We are ready to go with whatever you need.”

In addition to Moulton, Arsenault, Davis, Dolan, Secatore and DeCarlo, Interim Superintendent Tom Geary, DPW Director/Town Engineer John Tomasz, Capital Projects Manager John Scenna, Assistant Town Administrator Bob Curtin, Planning and Conservation Director Emilie Cademartori, Substance Use Prevention Coordinator Peg Sallade, Fire Capt. Kevin Mutti, Deputy Fire Chief Jim Wallace and Select Board member Alexis Leahy also attended the site visit.