The new system would allow the police and fire departments to communicate freely with one another, as well as linking the town's public works department, the Board of Education and the emergency personnel at the Millstone nuclear complex into the same system.

Currently, all of the town's agencies operate on separate radio frequencies through a 20-year-old conventional two-way system. First Selectman Dan Steward estimated that the present radio system only covers 75 percent of the town, while the proposed system would increase that to 95 percent.

The new system would use five radio towers rather than the single tower the town now uses at the Cohanzie Fire Department. Each tower site would be equipped with a generator. The new system also allows for easy expansion, Steward said.

“Interoperability” is a key word in modern police and fire communications. The term refers to the ability of emergency workers to communicate directly with each other so they can respond more effectively to an emergency.

It entered the vocabulary of emergency dispatchers, police officers and firefighters across the country after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The catastrophic events of that day were compounded by the fact that New York City police and fire personnel were unable to talk to each other because they operated on two disparate radio frequencies.

Last month, Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., announced that the state would receive $13 million in federal funding this year for interoperable communications.

The meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall. The town's finance board and selectmen have already approved the proposal. The RTM decision is the final step needed to authorize the funding.

If the project is approved, M/A-COM of Meriden would design and construct the new system. The project would take just less than a year to complete.

Steward said the combination of a new radio system and the improvements made to the dispatch center would make Waterford a perfect candidate to be the hub of a regional dispatch center that could include surrounding communities, such as East Lyme, Montville and possibly New London.

He said he has commissioned a study to be done through the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments that would examine the feasibility of a regional communications center.