East Hampton Village Will Get New Mobile Command Center

East Hampton Village plans to spend nearly $700,000 on a new mobile command vehicle that will be used to conduct emergency dispatching and response coordination operations from anywhere in the region.

The mobile unit also will provide a backup to its main dispatching center on Cedar Street in emergencies, or any other local department’s dispatch as needed.

Village officials said that as the primary dispatching source for all of East Hampton Town’s fire and ambulance services, having a state-of-the-art communications and command vehicle is critical.

“It will have multiple radio systems and is able to serve as a backup dispatch for our entire region should a fire department or EMS have a system collapse,” East Hampton Police Department Chief Michael Tracey said. “It’s a standalone backup for the 911 system. It can be brought to scenes and dispatch from [anywhere]. It is very much needed.”

The chief said that the department’s current vehicle — which village employees assembled themselves in the back of a former Frito Lay delivery truck — was used in Montauk during Superstorm Sandy and on another instance when the Montauk Fire Department’s dispatching system was down.

Mayor Jerry Larsen said that having a mobile command unit is key to the village’s dispatching services and emergency response capabilities.

“The village is the 911 dispatch for the entire township,” Mayor Jerry Larsen said, noting that the village does charge considerable fees for its services. “Other departments could go through the county [dispatchers], for free, but the county doesn’t give you any help but put the call out.

“We have a very sophisticated system in dispatch, with all the house numbers and landmarks. It’s a very comprehensive system that help’s our fire and police and EMS get to where they need to go … We believe we provide better service than any other dispatching center. This will add to that service.”

The village spent more than $1.5 million to upgrade its dispatching and emergency radio equipment as part of the townwide shift to a new emergency communications system that cost the town, the village, and the various fire and ambulance departments more than $13 million to implement — with some $750,000 in additional costs for a new communications tower planned in Springs still to come.

The vehicle will cost $695,000 to purchase through Pierce Manufacturing, a company that builds custom emergency response vehicles.

“It’s expensive,” Chief Tracey said, “but it’s important.”