Cutting-edge command center now a dream, but EMA director will keep pushing for it

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By Josh Sweigart, Staff Writer 12:48 AM Saturday, November 21, 2009

HAMILTON — Butler County Emergency Management Director Jeff Galloway’s dream is a sprawling, 9,000-square-foot emergency command center. Sleeping bunks. Showers. A media room, and cutting-edge technology.

It’s a far cry from the poorly equipped, 580-square-foot conference room that currently serves as the county’s Emergency Operations Center.

In the interim, county officials have broken the project into three phases, the first of which may be done in about six months.

That first phase will move the EOC from the sixth floor of the Government Services Center in downtown Hamilton to the building that formerly housed the agricultural extension office on Princeton Road. The building also is the home of the county’s new emergency radio system, and has nearly 2,000 square feet of open space.

With minimal county money and a federal stimulus grant, county Administrator Tim Williams said the building can be ready to go in months. And the EMA has state grants ready to buy equipment for the facility.

EMA officials would still have offices downtown, but they and police, fire, hospital and other emergency workers would all report to the new EOC to coordinate response in an emergency. There will be a small conference room and 16 desks, each seating two people.

“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” Galloway said.

The plan also calls for the Butler County Sheriff’s Office to move up to six emergency dispatchers to the other side of the building. Sheriff Richard K. Jones said it will save money to have the dispatchers and radio system under the same roof.

The second phase is where things get bogged down. That phase calls for a massive building addition to include 18 EOC stations each seating three people and space for 24 dispatchers.

The county is struggling to balance its books and has no money for this. Williams said he’s looking for state and federal grants to help. “It’s something that we’ll go forward with. It’s just a matter of timing.”

Then comes phase three, when the EMA will move its offices once the expanded EOC is done. “You never want to build to today’s standard,” Galloway said. “You always want to build for the future.”

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