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Grant boosts emergency center

By BARBARA BEHRENDT
Published February 22, 2007

INVERNESS - Just a week after county commissioners balked at the possible $20-million price tag suggested for the planned Emergency Operations Center, the county got some good news on the project.

The county will receive a $1.8-million hazard mitigation grant from the state Division of Emergency Management, officials learned this week.

With a previous state allocation, that brings the total in state dollars for the construction of the new EOC to $4.3-million.

County Commission Chairman Dennis Damato said Wednesday that with the new state grant, together with some tweaking of the project, the price tag should get to an acceptable point for a majority of the commission.

"This was just manna from heaven," he said.

County commissioners last week unanimously voted to wait for more finalized figures before moving ahead. They were reacting to a price tag approaching $20-million, a huge leap from very early estimates around $5-million.

Damato said cost estimates could be reduced further if the county directly purchases some of the materials for the EOC. In addition, county officials are looking at a more appropriate amount for an impact fee, and sheriff's officials are looking at some cost cutting measures.

The cost of critical building materials are also beginning to drop, said Damato, who is a building contractor.

The county has allocated $12-million for the project and Damato said that there is still a plan to see if U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite can find some federal dollars for Citrus as she had found federal grant monies for the Hernando County EOC.

"We're real close," Damato said.

One cost-cutting measure he did not want to see: concretables, the modular concrete buildings used by the school district to add on to Lecanto High School and the CREST school.

The EOC plan is too far advanced at this point to change direction. Plus, Damato wasn't sure that the concretables would withstand 165 mph winds, the strength needed for the new center.

But Damato did say that, after he visited the concretables in Lecanto and examined the construction plans for the modular structures, he is sure that they will be part of future county office construction projects.

"They definitely have a place in the future in Citrus County" and would work well to provide office space, he said. The county is also actively trying to expand county office space for several constitutional officers.

School Board Chairman Bill Murray has shown Damato, commissioner John Thrumston and other county officials the school's use of the modular structures.

The structures are less expensive than conventional construction and can be assembled in a fraction of the time it takes to construct a building.

Commissioner Gary Bartell said this week that concretables should be an option on the table as commissioners consider ways to cut building costs, at least for a portion of the EOC. He said he mentioned that idea in a meeting with the sheriff last week.

"We really need to look at other alternatives. That $20-million dollars is not setting well with me," he said. "We need to at least have an open mind and think out of the box."

Staff writer Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.

By the numbers

Emergency Operations Center

$5-million

Very early estimate of Emergency Operations Center price tag.

$20-million

More recent estimate of EOC price tag; commissioners balked at the increase.

$1.8-million

Grant from the state Division of Emergency Management.

$4.3-million

The total in state dollars for the construction of the new EOC, including a previous state allocation.

[Last modified February 22, 2007, 08:50:54]