Washington County Commissioner James Booth, left, talks Thursday morning about an engagement letter between Washington County and the State Auditor’s Office to perform a feasibility study of centralizing 911 emergency dispatch operations for the county, Belpre and Marietta as County Commissioner Charlie Schilling, right, listens. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)
Washington County took another step down the path to centralized 911 on Thursday morning.
During a Washington County Commission meeting, commissioners approved an engagement letter with the Ohio State Auditor’s Office to provide a feasibility study of centralized 911 in Washington County.
The engagement letter also calls the feasibility study a performance audit and states the objective of it is to conduct a “feasibility study of 911 emergency dispatch operation consolidation for Washington County, city of Marietta and city of Belpre, to include analysis of the following: operating environments, organizational structure and staffing levels, equipment and technology, physical location, and a cost-benefit analysis.”
During the meeting Commissioner Charlie Schilling said that the county should receive a report on the feasibility study in about six months and asked that everyone comply with timelines for the audit.
The State Auditor’s Office confirmed the county requested its Ohio Performance team conduct the feasibility study.
“There would be no cost to the county or cities for the performance audit, and the work would be completed in 6-12 months (estimate),” Ohio State Auditor’s Office External Communications Specialist Marc Kovac said via email.
After the meeting, Schilling provided some additional information about what the feasibility study will look at.
“They’re checking to see what types of inefficiencies there are with having three different (public safety answering points) within the county and when you look at a potential consolidation of services how that can overall benefit the residents,” he said.
Schilling hopes that once they have the report on the audit that it will help move along the process of getting centralized 911 in the county.
According to Schilling, the county has been working on the new 911 center for the county, whether or not they end up with centralized 911 services. He said the new County 911 Director Douglas Moore has submitted a report on the current plan for the center to the state.
He also said that the county has discussed locations for the center but “nothing has been set in stone.”
The county’s agreement for the feasibility study with the State Auditor’s Office is not yet final, according to Kovac.
“As of right now, though, this is only a proposal – no agreements have been signed and finalized between our office and the county/cities to move forward,” Kovac said.
The county approving the engagement letter helps move the agreement towards being finalized as according to the letter for the letter to be effective the county must return a signed copy and proof that the county has approved it to the state auditor’s office.
“A project manager for this project will be assigned once we receive a signed copy of this letter,” the letter said.
Other items addressed at the meeting include:
* Approved bills totaling $500,912.20
* Approved a resolution congratulating Washington County Director of Buildings and Grounds on his upcoming retirement after more than 15 years of service.
* A resolution authorizing support from the commissioners for preparation and submittal of an application to participate in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program (ATIIP). They also approved a letter of support to be sent to USDOT for the project.
* Approved appropriations and transfers including: $10,000 for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office for canine expenses; $700,000 being transferred from the capital projects fund to the county general fund for expenses associated with the elevator project at the County Courthouse and the renovation of the old WASCO building for the health department; and $16,000 for contract services for the County Auditor.
* Approved a resolution to appropriate additional funds of $51,589.000 for two vehicles for the County Jail and the Security and the County Sheriff’s Transport Division. The original resolution had also included $54,283 for equipment too, but the commissioners agreed to amend the resolution to include only vehicle costs and asked the Sheriff’s Office to cover the equipment costs.
* Approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a grant form the Statewide Consortium of Ohio County Law Library Resources Boards for $1,365.72 for the Washington County Law Library to replace an aged staff computer and to pay for a Microsoft Office license, a universal power supply and a law librarian conference registration fee.
* Approved two invoices for Veregy for $13,368.50 for work on the County Courthouse elevator project and $69,202 for work on a Juvenile Center controls upgrade project.
* Approved a request by the Southeast Ohio Building Department to purchase a truck from Victory Toyota for $52,000.
* Approved a contract to house village of Matamoras prisoners at the Washington County Jail at a cost of $100 per prisoner per day.
* Approved the specification for a resurfacing projecting for County Roads 4, 20, 25 and 44.
* Approved a request by the County Engineer’s Office to buy an excavator for $190,714 and trade in the department’s current excavator which will make the final purchase price $113,214.00. Also approved was a request for the office to purchase a distributor for $241,960 and trade in the department current distributor which will make the final purchase price $226,690.
*Approved a bid award for the Department of Jobs and Family Services for non emergency transport. According to DJFS Director Flite Freimann, the department received four similar bids and the bid award is for all four companies associated with the bids.
* Approved an Ohio Drug Law Enforcement subrecipient grant agreement.
Today's breaking news and more in your inbox
