TechnoDave
Member
This is a follow up to a story posted earlier this year.
Regional 911 center short of funds
Federal money needed to consolidate cities, county
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
BARNETT WRIGHT
News staff writer
A planned 911 emergency dispatching center for Jefferson County, Birmingham and 13 other cities could be in jeopardy if federal money is not secured for the project, county commissioners said Monday.
The $10 million set aside for the call center is not enough for the county to consolidate its services with the surrounding communities into the one center, Commission President Bettye Fine Collins said.
"If it's going to be built, there has to be some money coming from somewhere, and I think you can reasonably expect that it would not be available from this County Commission," Collins said after Monday's commission meeting.
Earlier this year, organizers discussed plans for a regional call center that would relocate dispatchers to the former Federal Reserve Building on Interstate 459 at Liberty Park.
Jeff Smith, interim director of building services for the county, said a federal reserve lease agreement could not be negotiated, and architects are now looking at designing a facility on eight acres at Jefferson Metropolitan Park Lakeshore.
The exact cost will not be determined until the drawings are completed in about six to eight months, he said.
Commissioner Bobby Humphryes said the call center is the type of regional project that federal officials encourage.
Under a full-scale consolidation, municipalities would share everything, from computers to the dispatchers themselves, who would then put out calls to local police and fire departments.
"We know that $10 million will not completely build the center so we will be looking for some Homeland Security money or some kind of federal assistance to build this," said Humphryes, who has responsibility for the county's Emergency Management Agency.
A regional center for the county and surrounding cities would improve services and communications 1,000 percent, Humphryes said. "By having everything in one center, you have all of your dispatchers in the same place."
So far, the governments that have signed letters of intent saying they're interested in joining with the county are Adamsville, Birmingham, Bessemer, the Center Point Fire District, Gardendale, Hueytown, Irondale, Kimberly, Leeds, Mountain Brook, Sylvan Springs, Tarrant, Trussville, Vestavia Hills, Warrior and Jefferson County. None has made a commitment.
The city of Hoover expects to open its new emergency call dispatch center in mid-January alongside a new police records office and emergency management center.
E-mail: bwright@bhamnews.com
Regional 911 center short of funds
Federal money needed to consolidate cities, county
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
BARNETT WRIGHT
News staff writer
A planned 911 emergency dispatching center for Jefferson County, Birmingham and 13 other cities could be in jeopardy if federal money is not secured for the project, county commissioners said Monday.
The $10 million set aside for the call center is not enough for the county to consolidate its services with the surrounding communities into the one center, Commission President Bettye Fine Collins said.
"If it's going to be built, there has to be some money coming from somewhere, and I think you can reasonably expect that it would not be available from this County Commission," Collins said after Monday's commission meeting.
Earlier this year, organizers discussed plans for a regional call center that would relocate dispatchers to the former Federal Reserve Building on Interstate 459 at Liberty Park.
Jeff Smith, interim director of building services for the county, said a federal reserve lease agreement could not be negotiated, and architects are now looking at designing a facility on eight acres at Jefferson Metropolitan Park Lakeshore.
The exact cost will not be determined until the drawings are completed in about six to eight months, he said.
Commissioner Bobby Humphryes said the call center is the type of regional project that federal officials encourage.
Under a full-scale consolidation, municipalities would share everything, from computers to the dispatchers themselves, who would then put out calls to local police and fire departments.
"We know that $10 million will not completely build the center so we will be looking for some Homeland Security money or some kind of federal assistance to build this," said Humphryes, who has responsibility for the county's Emergency Management Agency.
A regional center for the county and surrounding cities would improve services and communications 1,000 percent, Humphryes said. "By having everything in one center, you have all of your dispatchers in the same place."
So far, the governments that have signed letters of intent saying they're interested in joining with the county are Adamsville, Birmingham, Bessemer, the Center Point Fire District, Gardendale, Hueytown, Irondale, Kimberly, Leeds, Mountain Brook, Sylvan Springs, Tarrant, Trussville, Vestavia Hills, Warrior and Jefferson County. None has made a commitment.
The city of Hoover expects to open its new emergency call dispatch center in mid-January alongside a new police records office and emergency management center.
E-mail: bwright@bhamnews.com
