Paxton, MA Migration to Wachusett Regional ECC

Paxton chose to move its local dispatch to Wachusett RECC. Dispatchers in Holden would now handle Paxton's radio, phones and CAD from another town. Paxton's police and fire still needed the same coverage, alarms and building awareness they had with local dispatch.

That meant connecting systems across town lines. Paxton's radio sites, building cameras, phone lines and CAD records all had to reach the RECC reliably, and both towns needed a clear line between what Paxton owns and what the RECC runs.

Technical specifications

LB Comms wrote the specifications that set what had to connect to the RECC, and how.

We also defined who owns what. Each town keeps its own radio equipment, and the RECC runs the shared dispatch side.

Fiber from Holden to Paxton

LB Comms managed the installation of dedicated fiber from the Wachusett RECC in Holden to Paxton's public safety building at 576 Pleasant Street. Branches run to the pump station receive site and the Maple Street water tank. The fiber carries Paxton's radio audio to the RECC on a path the RECC controls, separate from the public internet.

We documented the full route in a fiber book in May 2024. That gives both towns a record of every segment and splice for future maintenance.

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Radio system: Motorola 3-site VHF voting

Paxton's radio runs on a Motorola VHF voting system with three sites. Comparators pick the strongest copy of each portable transmission from the public safety building, the Maple Street water tank, and a receive-only site at the pump station. That gives dispatchers in Holden clear audio from units anywhere in town.

• Integration. We tied the voted channels into the RECC dispatch consoles over the new fiber.
• Vehicle repeaters. We coordinated vehicle repeaters (DVRS) for five Paxton Fire apparatus, matched to the mobile radio programming, so firefighters keep portable coverage around their apparatus.
• Monitoring. We worked with the RECC on system monitoring for the regional radio inputs.
• Licensing. We maintain Paxton's FCC licenses, including the Police VHF renewal in 2025.

We keep improving the system after cutover. In 2025 we recommended moving the voting links to digital over fiber and replacing the microwave between the water tank and the public safety building. In 2026 we proposed a fix for the fiber interface units at the RECC.