By Bill Grubb

ROGERSVILLE — The Hawkins County Emergency Communications District will begin soliciting bids next week for the construction of a new office building and dispatch center.

    The 911 Board voted Thursday to solicit bids for the construction of the building, to be located on East Main Street, following the publication of a legal notice ad August 13.  Bid proposals will be accepted until 4 p.m. August 29 and opened at the board’s September 4 meeting.

    The board also agreed to establish a time frame for the construction of the building and to require contractors to be licensed and insured.

    Earlier this year the board purchased the 1.6 acre site for $125,000.  Officials had considered purchasing and renovating an existing building but determined it would be more economical to construct a new one.

    Currently the 911 center is located in the basement of the H. B. Stamps Library.

    The proposed facility will include an entry, to provide secured access, a 34 foot by 25 foot dispatch center, a 34 foot by 17 foot training room, a 12 foot by 20 foot break room and designated areas for the mapping coordinator, the director, handicapped accessible restrooms and equipment and storage space.

    The board has entered into a loan agreement to borrow $493,750 to fund the project.

    “This money will be repaid through money from the state, so we are not going to be using the telephone surcharges to build the building.  It won’t cause anyone’s phone bill to go up,” Board Chairman Kevin Cassidy said.

    Hawkins County Emergency Management Agency Director Gary Murrell told board members he had recently completed a grant application for funds that can be used to help construct and/or equip an emergency operations center, a dual role the new dispatch center will play.

    According to Murrell, the $236,000 grant application would require a 25 percent match.  He said it has been approved at the state level and noted “where it goes from there, who knows.”
  
    In other business, 911 Director Gay Murrell reported as of the end of July the dispatch center had answered 12,195 calls.

    New board members Tammy Davis, Roy Charles and Patrick Fraley participated in their first meeting, with Davis and Charles recently appointed by County Mayor Crockett Lee to terms that expire in June 2012 and Fraley to a term that expires in June 2010.  Other members of the board include Hawkins County Sheriff Roger Christian, EMA Director Gary Murrell, Cassidy, County Commissioner Bill Henderson, Freddie Short and Stanley Case.