DANVERS — Selectmen argued for three hours last night against joining a regional 911 dispatch center planned for Middleton.
The new emergency call system could span from Swampscott to Methuen. Board members said they support sharing services on a much smaller scale.
"We do support something. Just at this time, this project, we can't support," Selectman Dan Bennett said.
Distrust was also evident, as selectmen criticized the selection of Sheriff Frank Cousins as the administrative overseer of the dispatch center. Selectman William Clark Jr. described Cousins as a "massive ego" building a "mini-empire," a theme echoed by others.
"This isn't regionalization," selectmen Chairman Keith Lucy said. "This is a state agency approached for a kingdom."
Cousins wasn't at the meeting. Reached on the phone afterward, he said he was asked to participate in the project by local police and fire chiefs and has never tried to "ram anything down anybody's throat.
"I've acted very responsibly through this whole thing, and I think it's been a very open, transparent project," Cousins said. "If the selectmen don't want to do it, that's fine."
He added, "I'm not building an empire, that's the last thing I want to do."
Town Manager Wayne Marquis said the town's current dispatch center needs to be replaced.
"We need more. ... The opportunity to have a top-notch, state-of-the-art facility is what this is all about," he said.
Selectmen said they'd meet again at 6 p.m. May 6 — their fourth meeting on the subject — to figure out how to handle the issue at Town Meeting. Voters there will consider the proposal, but selectmen may seek an amendment to regain more control over the issue.
Last night, selectmen were given numbers suggesting Danvers' share of the dispatch center would cost about $420,000 a year, down 40 percent from Danvers' current dispatch costs of about $700,000.
Lucy probed the numbers, saying the regional center could be understaffed, with each dispatcher handling calls from twice as many residents as Danvers' dispatchers do now. Each of those dispatchers would still cost more, he said.
"Why would we pay the same or more for less services?" he said.
Lucy called for a smaller regional partnership, much as his town already partners with Middleton on a water system.
Danvers police union President Dana Michael Hagan opened public comments by saying he was insulted by Topsfield fire Chief Ronald Giovannacci's claims that the police union was manipulating the debate.
Hagan said his union hasn't yet taken a public position on the dispatch center.
Many of the 13 communities that signed letters of interest in the dispatch center will vote on the center in next month's town meetings.
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