Concord is pressing ahead with a plan to share its 911 dispatch center with Lincoln and Carlisle after losing a state grant that would have funded a $30,000 to $50,000 feasibility study.

Town Manager Kerry Lafleur told the Select Board on Tuesday, July 28, that the state received more than $135 million in grant requests but had only $50 million to distribute. The state prioritized construction projects over studies, which is why Concord came up empty, Lafleur said.

"We are very committed to advancing this project" in the current fiscal year, Lafleur told the board. "We will figure out how we will move forward."

The fallback option: UMass Boston's Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management could conduct the study at no cost under an existing contract with the State 911 Department. Concord and Acton used that same arrangement to study regionalization before Concord terminated that partnership in August 2023.

But town officials aren't sold on the Collins Center this time. Lafleur told The Concord Bridge that other consultants "have more technical expertise in this area" and "could provide us with a better product." How the town will pay for a private consultant without the grant remains an open question.

What the plan looks like

Under the proposed "hosted" model, Concord would keep its dispatch operation in-house at the Walden Street public safety headquarters and accept payments from Lincoln and Carlisle to handle their emergency calls. The arrangement differs from a standalone regional district, which would create a new governing entity.

Carlisle officials said this spring they are not committing to a regional setup but want to learn more. Lincoln officials have not commented publicly on the proposal.

Call volume and potential savings

Concord dispatchers fielded 507 emergency calls in June 2026, roughly 17 per day. They also answered 3,143 non-emergency calls that month. A 2021 Collins Center study of the earlier Concord-Acton proposal projected combined savings of about $1.38 million across both towns, though those figures reflected a different partnership and are now five years old.

Select Board Chair Wendy Rovelli called the study pursuit "a worthwhile endeavor," telling The Concord Bridge she wants the town to understand what the work would actually require before committing.

What's next

No next Select Board meeting date specific to the dispatch study has been announced. Residents can contact the Town Manager's office or the Select Board for updates.

If the towns proceed, Lafleur has said a regionalized dispatch system could launch in fiscal year 2028 or fiscal year 2029.