Sheriff envisions less expensive dispatch center

Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar believes the proposed dispatch center at Orchard Hill may be overpriced by perhaps $100,000. In an interview Thursday, Dunbar said the dispatch center could comfortably fit in a 1,600 square foot building, which is 500 square feet less than the 2,100 square feet architect John Mahon planned for when making his cost estimates in January.

In January, Mahon estimated the cost of a new, stand-alone dispatch center at Orchard Hill at about $530,000. At the commission?s meeting in June, Mahon gave the commissioners new cost estimates. He estimated the cost of a stand-alone structure at $546,000 and the cost of a new building that shared a wall with the jail at $543,000.

Dunbar said Mahon?s estimates assume the dispatch center at Orchard Hill will need several expenses Dunbar doesn?t believe are necessary. For instance, when Mahon made his estimates in January, he figured that the general offices, dispatch floor, supervisor office, break room, storage and entry vestibule would cost $315,000. His line item shows that those offices together would consume 2,100 square feet, and that each square foot would cost $150. Dunbar said the break room in Mahon?s plan is excessively large and perhaps not even necessary.

?I know it?s good to get a break, but you can take a break outside,? said Dunbar.

He said the dispatch center could share a lobby with the jail. Dunbar said those offices in the dispatch center need not take up more than 1,600 square feet, and in that case they would cost $240,000.

The restrooms and radio/IT room would together consume 360 square feet under Mahon?s proposal and would cost $175 per square foot, for a total of $63,000. Dunbar said this assumes there will be multiple restrooms in the building, which he said is unnecessary. He said the dispatch center could have one unisex restroom, and then if other people needed to use a restroom they could go to the jail.

Mahon planned for a generator at Orchard Hill, which would cost $25,000. Dunbar said the jail already has a generator and that the dispatch center could use it. Mahon also planned for $20,000 for site paving, grading, sidewalks and landscaping. Dunbar said that if the new building were built next to the existing sidewalk, that cost could be cut in half.

Dunbar said the total cost of a new building at Orchard Hill should be around $400,000. He said he prefers building from scratch at Orchard Hill rather than to move the dispatch center into the former jail or former library, both of which cost between $270,000 and $280,000. He said the new building will probably be more energy-efficient than either of the old buildings.

The cost savings Dunbar sees in a new building at Orchard Hill will come from its proximity to the sheriff?s office. The sheriff?s office routinely runs background checks on people, and it must do these in person at the dispatch center. Background checks are run on public employees, adults who wish to adopt children, and people who apply for permits to purchase or carry firearms.

Under the current configuration, deputies are required to drive from Orchard Hill to the dispatch center on West Second Street and North Avenue B. Dunbar said this consumes time and money that could be better spent elsewhere.

?Between our permits to carry and our permits to purchase, we have 1,000 of those so far this year,? said Dunbar.

Whenever officers make an arrest, they go to Orchard Hill to write up the charges and book the person. They have to travel to the dispatch center for the criminal history and travel back to Orchard Hill where they put the criminal history with the rest of the paperwork. Dunbar said these trips could be avoided if the dispatch center were at Orchard Hill.

The sheriff?s office is equipped with an emergency operations center. Dunbar said the operations center needs to communicate with the dispatch center during an emergency, and sometimes this can only be done in person because the tower is either full of cell phone traffic or not working. Dunbar said this is another reason to move the dispatch center to Orchard Hill.

Dunbar said he would like the decision about the building to be put on the ballot in the November 2012 election.

?Why not put it up for a vote?? said Dunbar. ?If the people say no, then it?s a no. The jail passed with about 70 percent approval. We went out and informed the people and let them make the decision, and I like that idea.?