Federal funding would help replace local emergency communications

Southwestern N.H. District Fire Mutual Aid may receive more than $900,000 in federal funding to replace outdated communications equipment from a congressionally directed spending request by U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

"Firefighters and first responders bravely serve their communities and put their lives on the line every day," Shaheen, D-N.H., said in a statement Thursday. "I requested federal funding for Cheshire County to help Southwestern New Hampshire District Mutual Fire Aid update its radio infrastructure — a key component of timely emergency response — to ensure they have the equipment they need to do their jobs and keep our communities safe.”

Mutual Aid Chief Coordinator Joe Sangermano said radio equipment at the 23 antenna sites that enable emergency dispatch communications for 78 agencies in New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts is mostly at or beyond its end of life. The equipment has an expected lifespan of about 15 years and was last replaced in 2006, Sangermano said.

It has become difficult to replace aging parts and the manufacturer no longer services the system, Sangermano said.

Mutual Aid has resorted to eBay to find replacement parts to “piecemeal” their system together, according to a statement from David Bernstein, Cheshire County director of executive services and communications.

“The urgency of this matter can not be understated,” Bernstein said in the statement Tuesday.

Congressionally directed spending requests are the process by which members of Congress earmark federal funds for state projects. The 2025 congressionally directed spending won’t be finalized until the federal budget passes.

Sangermano said Mutual Aid has worked with an equipment vendor and local contractor to plan the necessary replacements. The current estimate for the total cost of the project is about $6 million, Sangermano said. Without grant support, Sangermano said, that cost would be an “impossible hurdle” for the towns Mutual Aid serves to absorb.

Mutual Aid worked with Cheshire County administration to find funding for the replacement project, including applying for the earmark. The project will proceed in phases, Sangermano said, as funding becomes available.

When the federal budget passes, the $936,000 in federal funding will allow significant work to begin, but the search for funding goes on, according to Sangermano, with Mutual Aid seeking to reduce the burden on the towns it serves as much as possible.

Without outside support, Bernstein said, the project would cost towns an increase of 300 to 400 percent over what they’re currently paying for Mutual Aid.