911 Center moves toward Feb. opening

The Flathead County 911 board of directors met Wednesday, preparing for negotiations over employment terms for workers at the county's consolidated 911 Center.

The board appointed a negotiating committee as well as a committee assigned to explore future funding formulas for the 911 Center, according to Mark Peck, director of the Flathead County Office of Emergency Services.

On Oct. 9, a group of very interested dispatchers gathered for a tour of the under-construction center off of Stillwater Road, with plenty of questions for board members who were present.

Peck told the group that about 29 people will be employed in the new dispatch center, including three lead dispatchers and three supervisors. A total of 37 people will work in the new building, including support staff and Office of Emergency Services personnel.

Peck said the board still is developing a plan for transitioning the currently separate Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Kalispell and Flathead County dispatch operations into the new building.

Tracy Finn, a county dispatcher, said the dispatchers have formed a negotiating committee that includes a representative from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Peck said negotiations should get under way within a month and the move into the new building should start by Feb. 1, 2010.

The transition will be a "huge undertaking," Peck said, possibly requiring a phased approach with county dispatchers moving in first, followed by Whitefish and Columbia Falls and finally Kalispell dispatchers.

Or it may be done all at once, Peck said.

He noted that unlike a business that can simply close down for a week to relocate, dispatch services must continue even as the moving is under way.

Corey Johnson, an architect with CTA Architects and Engineers, led dispatchers on a tour of the 11,800-square-foot building, a "hardened" structure with reinforced masonry block walls, bullet- and blast-proof windows, and security fencing and gates.

The building will have redundant communications and power systems. The main parts of the building are an equipment cache to house emergency vehicles and other equipment plus an open-area dispatch center with surrounding offices.

The interior offices and dispatch center were framed by metal studs that were installed in just over a week, Johnson said. A false floor will conceal a huge array of fiberoptic and power cables under the dispatch area.

A change in the subcontractor that was doing the building's block masonry work, however, has caused an extension in the project's original Dec. 15 completion date. The building still must be ready on that date for communications equipment to be installed, Johnson said, but Swank Enterprises will have another 40 days to complete the project in its entirety.

"The dispatchers are excited to go into a new building and finally walk into the 21st century with new equipment," said Finn, who noted that the dispatchers are planning to establish a memorial garden for three Montana High Patrol troopers who have died in the line of duty over the last two years.

The garden will have memorial benches in a plaza area outside the 911 Center, and there probably will be a public donation campaign, Finn said.

"It's very important to us," she said.

The 911 Center budget is just under $6.1 million for land costs, impact fees, design fees, furnishings and advanced communications equipment. But Peck said the project could be finished well under budget, possibly for as low as $5.3 million.

Last November, county voters approved a bond issue authorizing up to $6.9 million to build and equip the facility. The bond amount - and county taxes to pay off the bonds - will be adjusted downward to reflect the actual final cost of the project.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com