Chelsea joins Revere and Winthrop in regional emergency call center

Will relocate to McKinley School with state-of-the-art equipment

Advocate Staff Report

The City Council unanimously approved an inter-municipal agreement for a regional emergency call center that has been in the works for years. Mayor Patrick Keefe was at this week’s City Council meeting with some history and the latest news on the agreement. Revere has a regional 911 call center with Winthrop that was established about 15 years ago. The intention was to have Chelsea as part of the system, but Chelsea opted to remain independent.

“We have been chasing and trying to get Chelsea to join,” Keefe said. And with good reason. With three communities on board, the call center will be eligible for $15 million in state grants as opposed to the $8 million for the two communities. And with three municipalities involved, each partner’s annual assessment for operating the center will be less.

A vote from the Chelsea City Council two weeks ago brought Chelsea on board with the regional call center and added more money to the bottom line for local public safety, explained Keefe.

Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltez, who attended the meeting with Keefe, also had plenty of praise for the agreement. “This is a conversation Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop have been having for a very long time,” Maltez told the City Council. “I am very proud the Chelsea City Council voted 11 to 0 for this. I know this will be a benefit for all three communities.”

And there was more good news. The call center currently operates out of the Revere Police Station in a limited space. A new refurbished center with state-of-the-art equipment will be located in the McKinley School, which has been empty since 2014. The call center will share the space at McKinley with the School Department, which is investing $6.9 million in funding for a 15,000-square-foot early childhood education center that will be able to accommodate 200 children.

Keefe said the plan now is to use the basement of the building as a food hub – an incubator food space. If that plan falls through, Keefe said, the basement at McKinley will likely be used as administrative space for the city.

Councillors not only approved the agreement; they praised Keefe for getting it done. Councillor-at-Large Anthony Zambuto said he is thrilled with the plan and called it “a big get.” “[T]his improves public safety in a fiscally responsible way,” said Zambuto.

“Four mayors before you tried to get this going and they couldn’t,” said Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna to Keefe.

Councillor-at-Large Robert Haas described the agreement as “a great partnership” and a “huge win.”

Keefe, who seemed grateful for the support, called the regional call center “[A] big deal for the city of Revere and long overdue.”