County staff present $7–8.2 million concept for new 911 center, suggest funding via 911 fees

Jeff Fuller, director of building and grounds, and Lieutenant Jeff Howard presented a concept design and cost estimate for a new county 911 dispatch center on March 3. Fuller said Longwell Trap Architects modeled a facility attached to the OEM building with a dispatch room, administrative area and optional half‑basement; hard construction costs were presented just under $7 million and the total project estimate including soft costs about $8.2 million.

Fuller explained operational benefits of colocating the dispatch center alongside the emergency management briefing space for improved coordination during major incidents. He told the board that a radio tower would likely be needed near Ramsey and that initial FAA outreach supported a reduced height: "we were able to bring that down ... so 90t tall on the tower," Fuller said. He estimated the tower cost at roughly $250,000 but noted that was not included in the current quote.

Lieutenant Howard described technology requirements — consoles, recording, radio site gear and other ancillary items — and said bundling purchases could reduce long‑term cost. Full technical and long‑term costs were framed as about $5 million over five years, with roughly $2 million as an expected upfront technology cost that could be funded through 911 fees.

Why it matters: the project would replace aging facilities, add redundancy and improve emergency coordination, but it carries multi‑million dollar capital and technology costs and requires decisions about funding sources and potential service consolidations with neighboring jurisdictions.

Commissioners asked for more detail on where project funds would come from and for alternative designs (options B/C) that would avoid moving the tower or reduce scope. Fuller proposed running a CM/GC procurement and recommended the board direct staff to pursue the RFP process; commissioners requested clearer funding documentation before committing to the full scope.

Quotes: "We're looking at around 8.2 million is kind of the estimated budget on that," Fuller said. "We could actually get bundle pricing and ... cut a substantial amount of money out of the overall cost in the long run," Lt. Howard added, referring to vendor bundling.

Next steps: staff asked for direction to initiate a CM/GC selection process and to return with funding options and more detailed cost breakdowns; commissioners did not make a final decision at the status meeting.