Southborough capital committee backs police drone program as an immediate priority but defers funding decision to Select Board

The Town of Southborough Capital Improvement and Planning Committee voted 3–0 June 24 to support designating the police department’s drone program as an immediate capital priority, while leaving the final decision on funding sources and timing to the Select Board.

The committee’s action followed a presentation from Chief Pini, who told members the department had documented nine recent incidents in which neighboring towns’ drones assisted searches and said the program would ‘‘improve our operational readiness’’ and ‘‘make our officers and residents safer.’’ The chief said the vendor quote covers a five-year program that includes hardware, software upgrades and a mid‑term hardware refresh and described the price as a single up‑front cost that would cover five years of service.

Why it matters: committee members raised two linked concerns — whether the proposal meets the committee’s capital-policy standards and whether a six‑figure, out‑of-cycle expenditure should be advanced from operating savings or placed on a town meeting warrant. The committee concluded it could assess capital readiness but not resolve the financial‑policy question.

Committee members pressed the chief on operational details. The chief said two current staff already are certified drone operators and that the vendor’s package would allow the town to train additional pilots so coverage could be available across shifts. Vendor representative Spencer Basset of Axon said FAA Part 107 testing is a written exam and that ‘‘I believe it’s $159 for the test,’’ and that Axon could help cover some early certification costs to accelerate deployment.

The chief emphasized that the proposed system does not include facial recognition or automatic license‑plate reading, describing the capability as ‘‘literally just to be up there, give us aerial views, and to assist us with searching for missing kids, searching for elderly people, and assisting our officers.’’ Committee members repeatedly cited response times and mutual‑aid delays in past incidents as a key rationale for local ownership of the capability.

On cost and timing, the committee discussed a five‑year vendor program with a quoted one‑time payment (discussed in the meeting as roughly $105,000) that the chief said could be paid from end‑of‑year salary savings and still allow returning funds to the town’s free cash. Committee members noted the risk that delaying the purchase until a formal town‑meeting article could change the price.

The motion approved by the committee said, in part, that ‘‘CIPC support[s] that the drone program continues to be an immediate priority for the safety of the community on the capital plan’’ while recommending that ‘‘funding allocations and decisions around timing and funding sources should be subject to a financial policy review by the Select Board.’’ The committee passed the motion by roll call vote, 3–0. Chief Pini said he would brief the Select Board at its meeting the next Monday.

What’s next: The Select Board will decide whether to authorize the department to use available operating savings this fiscal year or to sponsor a town‑meeting article in the fall; the committee’s vote stops short of endorsing the funding path.