Commission approves funding shift to pay for EOC audio/visual project; mayors urge restoring disaster fund

The Story County Emergency Management Commission on Jan. 21 approved a FY26 budget amendment to move $228,000 from a designated reserve to capital improvement expenses to pay for an emergency operations center (EOC) audio/visual project and approved the county’s FY27 budget as presented.

SCEMA staff member Melissa Spencer told the Commission the RFP for the EOC A/V project has been posted on the county bids page, a vendor walkthrough is scheduled for Jan. 28 and bids are due Feb. 10. She said the review team will include SCEMA staff, the county Facilities Management director and the Information Technologies director; staff will report vendor-selection recommendations and projected costs to the Commission when available.

Commissioners pressed Spencer about the RFP’s scope and the selection process. Spencer said the RFP is written around capability requirements and vendors will describe how they will meet those needs. She later followed up by email (Jan. 29) that four vendors bid the last EOC A/V project.

Several members raised concerns about using the EOC project fund allocation to cover disaster-response reserves. Spencer said the Commission previously directed moving $100,000 of disaster funds into the EOC project account amid uncertainty about FEMA reimbursements and possible legislative limits on carryover. Mayor Kurtis Bower said the disaster fund should be focused on emergency purchases and urged returning the money to the disaster fund. Mayor Taylor Christensen noted the fund has been used at times for hazardous-material response and other specialized needs and suggested scaling back the EOC project to restore the disaster fund to $200,000. Spencer said the fund has been used to pay for the hazardous-material response to an Ames train derailment and to buy leg protectors to assist the sheriff’s office during a riot response in Des Moines; she said the fund was not tapped for COVID or the most recent tornado event.

The Commission did not make a final decision about restoring the disaster fund at the Jan. 21 meeting; members directed Spencer to convene the Commission after bids are evaluated so commissioners can review recommendations, costs and determine whether to proceed. That motion was made by Mayor Taylor Christensen and seconded by John Haila and carried by unanimous consent.

Budget votes and fiscal details

• FY26 amendment: The Commission opened and closed a public hearing with no public comments and approved moving $228,000 from the designated reserve to capital improvements to fund the EOC A/V project. Motion by John Haila; second by Jackie Sapp; carried by unanimous consent.

• FY27 budget: Spencer reviewed reductions totaling $18,210 and noted a residual shortfall of $1,500 due to updated phone costs; the Commission opened a public hearing with no comments and approved the FY27 budget as presented. Motion by Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald; second by Kurtis Bower; carried by unanimous consent.

Why it matters

Funding choices for the EOC A/V project affect the Commission’s immediate ability to upgrade emergency communications and incident-management capability; moving designated disaster reserves into capital work reduces immediately available contingency funds for rapid emergency purchases. The Commission opted to approve the budget changes now while reserving a final decision about the disaster fund until after vendor bids and cost estimates are available.

What happens next

Vendor bids for the EOC A/V project are due Feb. 10 and a vendor walkthrough is scheduled Jan. 28. SCEMA staff and county technical staff will evaluate bids and report back to the Commission; commissioners requested a convened meeting to review those recommendations and decide whether to proceed.