Consultants urge Brookhaven to pursue BRIC funding for hardened public-safety facility

Robert McFerrin of Broadus Engineering told the Brookhaven Board of Aldermen the firm has built hardened public-safety facilities and tornado shelters across the region and urged the city to pursue federal resilience grants to fund a combined police/detention and emergency operations center with an integrated safe room.

"We want a tornado safe room," McFerrin said, adding that a hardened facility provides continuity of government, generator backup and resilience to withstand direct tornado strikes. Mark Williams, an architect with Mark Williams and Associates, described past projects that survived Hurricane Katrina as examples of the standards the city should adopt.

The consultants outlined funding options the board can pursue: FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), community development block grants and state bonds. McFerrin said BRIC applications typically require schematic design and that FEMA funds roughly 75 percent of eligible costs while the state or local government supplies the remaining 25 percent.

McFerrin urged the board to select an architecture firm and follow procurement rules quickly because BRIC submissions for Mississippi are due in mid-June. He said the upfront architectural fee can be reimbursed through BRIC if the project is funded, but the city needs shovel-ready materials to be competitive.

Mayor and staff agreed to schedule a follow-up meeting with the police chief and the city's engineer to refine requirements, select a procurement approach and move toward schematic design and grant submission.

Next steps: the board directed staff to convene with the consultants and the police chief to identify an architect and assemble the preliminary documentation needed for federal grant applications.