Travis County emergency services officials told the Commissioners Court on Aug. 14 they are pursuing a second Combined Transportation, Emergency and Communications Center (CTEC 2) and asked the court to earmark $205,000 for a county ITS program manager senior to represent the county during planning, implementation and ongoing operations.
Emergency Services Manager Chuck Brotherton briefed the court on the history of CTEC, the agency partners (City of Austin, Capital Metro, TxDOT, County) and the limitations of the current Dispatch Floor at CTEC 1. Brotherton said the City of Austin has purchased the Tokyo Electron campus (2400 Grove Boulevard) and that a concept-of-operations study for CTEC 2 has been completed, but a comprehensive site study, governance agreement and implementation teams are still needed.
"We need to hire a dedicated Travis County program manager," Brotherton said, requesting an earmark of $205,000 that would become ongoing if approved. He said CTEC 2 is intended to provide resiliency by creating two live centers able to back each other up, and could allow agencies (including emergency services districts, UT and AISD) to colocate dispatch or operations space.
Planning and Budget noted that the interlocal agreement that funds current CTEC management is already costly (roughly $4.6 million ILA budget) and that a second live center would likely create another multi-million-dollar operating commitment. Paul Hopingardner (Technology & Operations) and others emphasized that early engagement is important and that a county program manager will help ensure the county is represented as plans progress.
Commissioners asked for a work session and urged that partner commitments and a charter be formalized before the county expands its operating commitments. Planning and Budget said it had no conceptual objection to the program-manager position but flagged that the larger CTEC 2 operations and maintenance commitments would be a major policy decision and should be discussed in depth before long-term funding is assumed.
Why this matters: CTEC 2 could change how 911, dispatch and transportation operations are organized regionally and would require formal partner agreements, capital and ongoing operations funding, and clear governance; the county request is for an early-stage, county-side coordinator rather than for full construction funding.