Board authorizes move of county 9‑1‑1 dispatch to Stryker Court; state will fund duplicate call‑handling equipment

Tuolumne County supervisors voted to proceed with relocating the county’s 9‑1‑1 dispatch operations to the Stryker Court facility, a short‑term move staff said is needed to address repeated electrical, generator and HVAC failures at the current dispatch center.

Lede: The move — approved unanimously — directs the county administrator to proceed with purchases and upgrades necessary to operate the public safety answering point at Stryker Court while county leaders pursue approval and an eventual relocation to the Danbacker detention center.

Nut graf: County public safety staff said the current communications room, housed in an aging building, had suffered multiple outages and an electrical fire in recent years. Staff outlined a plan that limits structural modifications at Stryker Court but will include electrical upgrades, new network cabling and replacement of aging call‑handling equipment. The California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) told the county it will provide funding to duplicate call‑handling infrastructure at the new location.

What the board approved

- Proceed with the Stryker Court relocation project and authorize the county administrator to sign and purchase project‑related items. The board approved the motion on staff recommendation.

Why staff recommended a short‑term move

Sheriff’s division commanders and the acting county administrator told the board the department had documented repeated failures at the current site: multiple power outages in 2023, an electrical fire in a main panel, a failed backup generator in January 2024 and HVAC failures affecting server cooling. These incidents caused temporary loss of service and presented a risk to continuous 9‑1‑1 operations. Staff said Stryker Court already meets seismic requirements and has an existing radio tower, and that most project costs would be for cabling, electrical work and replacement equipment rather than major structural renovations.

State support and long‑term plan

The county reported it had obtained state approval to pursue moving dispatch into the Danbacker detention center as a long‑term solution; staff said that approval arrived the morning of the meeting but acknowledged the Danbacker move would require additional steps and likely years to implement. In the near term, Cal OES’s 9‑1‑1 branch committed to fund duplicated call‑handling equipment at Stryker Court, which reduces the county’s net equipment purchase burden and speeds the stand‑up.

Timeline and budget

County staff presented a budget for equipment, cabling and contingency; the CAO said many state‑funded call‑handling components are preordered and that several contracts for site work will be brought to the board as required by public contracting rules. Staff said the planned procurement schedule would aim to complete most lead items within several months, but cautioned they could not guarantee full completion before the summer wildfire season; procurement lead times and permitting were cited as key constraints.

Public safety and continuity

Sheriff Dave Vasquez and other presenters emphasized the safety imperative for a sustainable 9‑1‑1 facility. The board voted unanimously to proceed and directed staff to keep the board informed of schedule updates; the CAO and sheriff said they would accelerate work and return contract approvals under normal public contracting procedures.

Sections:{"lede":"Tuolumne County supervisors voted to proceed with relocating the county’s 9‑1‑1 dispatch operations to the Stryker Court facility, a short‑term move staff said is needed to address repeated electrical, generator and HVAC failures at the current dispatch center.","nut_graf":"County public safety staff said the current communications room had suffered multiple outages and an electrical fire in recent years; staff outlined upgrades and said Cal OES would fund duplicated call‑handling equipment at Stryker Court.","ending":"The board directed staff to accelerate procurement and return necessary contract approvals; staff said they will continue planning a long‑term move to Danbacker while operating from Stryker Court."},