FARMINGTON — Members of a Franklin County building committee proposed an estimated $629,300 to build a new dispatch center.
Dispatcher Stan Wheeler, chairman of the Dispatch Building Committee, told county commissioners on Tuesday that the group came up with a floor plan for a stand-alone building that would be a secure, safe, well-constructed and well-insulated building.
It would not be a “Taj Mahal,” but it would meet the needs of a dispatch center, Wheeler said. It would be built on the same property as the existing dispatch center and jail on County Way.
The building would be made of insulated concrete forms that are very sturdy and energy efficient, Wheeler said.
The cost of the core form construction is about $14 a square foot, compared to other types of construction that are just under $17 per square foot, Wheeler said.
The financing on this building would be negligible on the tax rate, if any at all, according to County Clerk Julie Magoon, he said.
Without calculating interest, Magoon said, the payment on $629,300 would be about $42,000 a payment over 15 years. The cost of the new building alone is $385,000. The rest of the money is for other items such as a generator and new work stations for dispatchers.
“This is essentially a turnkey operation,” Wheeler said. “We’d be able to walk in and start up.”
The cost does not factor in moving the 911 emergency equipment, he said. When the equipment was first moved to the current dispatch center, it cost in the ballpark of $75,000. But the state is going to install the next generation of 911 equipment, so if the building is under construction, it wouldn’t cost anything, Wheeler said.
The overall building cost includes $70,000 for moveable furniture such as new work stations for dispatchers.
“This is way over what I thought I was going to spend,” Commission Chairman Fred Hardy of New Sharon said.
The committee has taken and sharpened their pencils and cut back, Wheeler said.
“This is it,” he said. “There may be a little wiggle room but not much.”
“What about the jail?” Commissioner Gary McGrane of Jay asked.
The jail, which is adjacent to the existing dispatch center that is shared with the Sheriff’s Department, has been turned into a 72-hour holding facility. There is an effort under way to try and get a pre-release program into the jail.
Hardy said that part of the jail is now being used for video arraignments of inmates.
McGrane said he would like more information on putting the dispatch center in the jail.
One of the issues with the jail is the acoustics.
The Franklin County Budget Committee recommended in May that the county build a stand-alone building on the county’s property instead of trying to renovate space in the jail for communications.
One of the conclusions that the Budget Committee reached was that if they started breaking up the jail, they would never get it back, Commissioner Clyde Barker of Strong said then.
“It would be economically more feasible to build a new building,” Budget Committee Chairman John Calloway said in May.
It is going to cost Farmington about $420,000 to renovate a building that was donated to the town for a new police station.
Wheeler said this is the recommendation of the committee.
McGrane said he wasn’t in support of the proposal and wanted to see the cost of renovating the jail first.
The Building Committee plans to make a presentation to the Budget Committee on the proposal.
“We need to move dispatch into the 21st century,” Wheeler said. “It needs to be a safe and secure environment. We’re not asking for the moon.”
They are asking to go to voters with a proposal, he said.
The whole operation of county safety begins with dispatch, he said.
“We have to have a solid foundation,” Wheeler said.
Voters overwhelmingly rejected a $4.6 million bond in 2010 that included building a new dispatch center.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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