With a deadline fast approaching to replace the town's 911 system before complete catrastophe, the Town Council discussed Tuesday night paying for a new system.

Police officials informed Council members during the workshop meeting that Verizon will cease providing service to the town's emergency response center as of Sept. 1. After that date, any crash of the system will permanently disable the 911 system in town. The Council was told the system crashed three times last week, with Verizon able to fix the system each time.

Verizon officials told the town that they have decided to sunset the current system and move away from how 911 is provided to a town like Westfield.

The Council stressed the importance of haste in this matter. By acting quickly we may be able to install a new system before the September cut-off date. A general concern voiced was the possibility of other towns who are facing this same issue- Scotch Plains and Mountainside - also rushing at the last minute to replace systems, creating a potential backorder.

A new Patriot system has been given a price tag of $340,000. The budget process just needs to be carried out in order to give the change-over of equipment the green light. No grants were available to help offset this expenditure.

Look for this item to be further mentioned in other upcoming Council sessions. The matter is of utmost importance given the fact that after the September 1st deadline, if a new system is not installed, one malfunction could leave Westfield without Police and Fire emergency response systems.