Municipalities Served: 5
Population: 26,029
Area: 125.4 sq. mi.
Annual Call Volume: 2,300
Milford Area Communications Center (MACC Base)
The Milford Area Communications Center, known locally as MACC Base, is a consolidated dispatch center headquartered in Milford, NH. It currently operates out of the top floor of the Milford Town Hall, and provides fire, EMS, and some police dispatch for the communities of Greenfield, Lyndeborough, Milford, Mont Vernon, and Wilton.
MACC Base currently has eight full-time employees and seven part-time employees, with two dispatchers typically on duty at all times. In addition to dispatching for contracting towns, it has an agreement with Hollis Communications and the Amherst Police Department as a backup dispatch center in the case their communications capabilities were down.
TBD
Member Towns
Greenfield
Lyndeborough
Milford
Mont Vernon
Wilton
Other Member Agencies
Milford Ambulance
Wilton Ambulance
MACC Base History
MACC Base was originally founded in 1962 as Milford Communications Center and operated under the command of the Milford Police Department. It originally operated out of the basement of the town hall, which at the time served as the police station. In addition to Milford, the towns of Amherst and Mont Vernon also received fire, EMS, and police dispatch service from the center. In 1969, Wilton joined, and in 1974 the Wilton-Lyndeborough Ambulance and Milford Ambulance also joined when they began service.
In 1984, Milford Communications Center officially became a separate entity from the town of Milford, setting up its own leadership structure and rebranding itself as Milford Area Communications Center. At this time, operations moved to the first floor of town hall. Two dispatchers were on duty for 16 hours of the day, with a solo dispatcher during the overnight hours. By 1987, it had moved to the top floor of town hall and has continued to operate from there ever since. In 1988, Lyndeborough and Brookline joined the agreement, although Brookline left for Hollis Dispatch in 1992.
In 1995, Greenville participated in a one-year trial with MACC Base, officially joining the following year. In 1999, staffing increased to two employees on duty 24/7.
The early 2000s saw many changes to the membership, with Greenville leaving for Hillsborough County Dispatch in 2003, Amherst starting its own dispatch operation in 2004, and Lyndeborough leaving for SWNH in 2004. This left just Milford, Mont Vernon, and Wilton as full-time members, although Wilton Ambulance also providing EMS coverage to Lyndeborough and Temple. In 2019, it added Greenfield to its ambulance coverage area, and Temple left in 2020 when it contracted with Peterborough.
In 2023, Lyndeborough rejoined MACC Base to better consolidate dispatch operations—while the fire department was being dispatched by SWNH, both police and EMS were dispatched by Milford. And in 2024, the Greenfield Fire Department joined MACC Base’s coverage area.
From 1990 onward, towns dispatched by MACC Base utilize specific community numbers in addition to its apparatus type. These numbers largely match the designators used by Souhegan Mutual Aid, with Lyndeborough an exception.
9: Greenfield
20: Milford (Fire and EMS)
21: Mont Vernon
30: Wilton (Fire and EMS)
82: Lyndeborough