Building bids blossom

Wayne County takes steps for a new 911/Emergency Operations Center

By TOM KANE

HONESDALE, PA - County commissioners approved the issuing of bids to contractors for a new combination 911/Emergency Management Operations Center building.

Wayne County engineer Steve Knash presented a draft of the bid to the commissioners at their meeting on January 15.

“We are presenting five separate sections of the bid to give smaller contractors a chance to present a bid on one aspect of the whole project,” Knash said.

The five sections are general construction, electrical construction, telecommunications construction, plumbing and HVAC and will include site work, parking spaces, lighting and security fencing. Bids will be opened on February 18. The bid does not include the planned construction of a garage and a tower. The tower will be a microwave tower that will link to the large county tower, which is on a hill nearby.

“We are using microwave since we did not want to lay optic cable between the building and the large tower, and since we don’t know how much new construction may be planned for the property,” Knash said.

The building will be located on the same property as the recycling center on Route 652. “We’re going to put it to the left of the recycling, using the same road,” he said.

Both the current 911 Center and the Emergency Management Control Center are in the Dimmick annex building and will be moved to the new site upon its completion. Equipment for the telecommunications operation is not included in the project’s cost.

“Funding will have to come from a mixture of sources,” Knash said.

“We currently have a grant of $188,000 from Congressman Chris Carney that we can utilize for this project,” said commissioner Wendell Kay.

The county will seek other funding sources and will be prepared to spend tax dollars on it if necessary, Kay said.