County officials debate emergency center costs

story by Aric Mitchell
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The Emergency Operation Center (EOC) was the talk of Tuesday night’s meeting of the Sebastian County Quorum Court as they discussed the $1 million facility, which came under fire from court member Shawn Looper.

Looper’s argument focused on a $75,000 omission from the proposed 2011 budget that had been approved by the court in December.

The expenditure accounts for furniture, which must be installed, before ceiling tiles and sheetrock can be put in place. Part of the furniture is four customized tables that each have nine computer ports where an emergency response worker can hook in and access the Internet. The facility would see network connections and cables running up through the floor.

An adjacent conference room would possess enough space for 10 additional slots, with a total capacity of 47 seats in the 3,000-square foot area. Until the furniture is in place, the network installers will not know where to terminate cables.

Looper felt the court should have known sooner, but County Judge David Hudson revealed that part of the hold-up was that he has been unable to reach an agreement with the City of Fort Smith.

“It’s one of those things, where there have been too many irons in the fire, me more than the city,” Hudson explained.

According to Hudson, EOC expenses in 2010 for building, insurance, and miscellaneous, were close to $26,000. Hudson hopes to slice that number in half if he can negotiate with Fort Smith officials in the coming weeks, and he feels confident that an agreement can be reached as part of the building is in use to train local law enforcement.

“The city wants me to meet with them, and I’m the one to blame (that hasn’t happened),” Hudson said.

Hudson continued: “I understand the concerns. But we have contractors and sub-contractors and agreements in place. Putting this off could cost us a lot of money. If that’s how the quorum court wants to proceed on this, you need to know that. If you want to motivate me to get it done, I don’t need any motivation. I want to get it done. I’m sorry we don’t have it done, but I haven’t been able to finalize the agreement at this time.”

“I just don’t think we should be pushed into a corner,” Looper responded. “If you don’t approve this you’re going to end up losing money here. If it was that critical why wasn’t it in the 2011 budget?”

Hudson answered that he didn’t know the full scope of the project at that time.

“We’re not pushing anyone into a corner. We’ve never put an EOC in. This is the first time we’ve worked on this project. But it will be an excellent resource service to the region. We’re not misallocating tax money. I assure you we will get an agreement. We have a building and a grant in place, and we’re doing the best we can with the money for the long term.”

Court members passed the appropriation by a vote of 8-5.

Other business included the passing of two resolutions and two ordinances. The first of the two resolutions consisted of defining Pictometry as “Other Professional Services” to take advantage of a 3-year $96,000 agreement to update the existing service and forgo the bidding process. The current system was implemented in 2008 for a 5-year project that would allow the County access to unique computer-based imagery in reappraising properties and aiding with emergency management and disaster relief. The second resolution saw the court voting unanimously to remain in the Third Congressional District.

In addition to the ordinance that included the EOC and other capital amendments, the court also approved an amendment to the 2011 budget that appropriated an additional $100,000 to the Sebastian County Jail for inmate medical expenses. Total medical expenses for 2010 had been $330,000, Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck noted, but the 2011 budget for that line item was only at $147,000. The court approved this and other budget amendments unanimously.