COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER BENEFITS FROM INNOVATION GRANT

The ambitious Licking County project to consolidate and upgrade 9-1-1 Fire and Emergency Dispatching, and the Sheriff’s Office law enforcement dispatching received a major shot in the arm this week with the announcement by the state of a major interest free loan benefiting the project. The County will receive a $500-thousand no interest 10-year loan to facilitate this public safety project. Earlier this year the Licking County Task Force planning this consolidation and cost saving project made application to the State’s new Local Government Innovation Fund. The Innovation Fund is a competitive statewide program providing loans and grants which are intended to benefit communities doing projects to consolidate services, improve efficiencies and ultimately cut costs. The Ohio Department of Development received 105 grant applications and 12 loan applications in nine areas including: technology, public safety, facilities, economic development, fleet management, public works, administration, health and human services and educational instruction support. In the first round the State selected 51-project amounting to $3.4-million in grants and $2.9-million in loans. The Licking County project will combine two major emergency services dispatching operations in a facility acquired last year from the State, a former community based corrections facility. Located on East Main Street in Newark, this new Licking County Joint Communication Center (LCJCC) will feature new state of the art technology in an expandable and innovatively designed central location. In addition to accommodating existing radio technology, the Center will include a new 250-foot transmission tower and full connectivity to the statewide MARCS 800 Megahertz radio network, allowing local agencies to utilize that resource. Licking County Commissioner Tim Bubb says, “Construction to adapt the administrative areas of the former incarceration facility to a telecommunications center will begin this summer, as will tower construction. The conversion and installation of new equipment will be complete in early 2013, and it is anticipated the new LCJCC will ‘stand up’ in the second quarter of 2013.” He adds, “This $2-million plus project will also benefit from a Federal Grant in conjunction with the MECC Center in Franklin County for new dispatching technology, as well as County capital funds and wireless funds intended to upgrade dispatching technology.”