Published: November 13, 2007 11:55 am      

Commission to hear update on Mineral 911 facility

KEYSER - Mineral County's commissioners are scheduled to receive an update today on bids for the construction of the new 911 Center to be built on Pine Swamp Road.

In addition, representatives from Crews and Associates are scheduled at 1 p.m. to make a presentation on plans for the new facility.

The new center, which is proposed to be built on Pine Swamp Road across from the entrance to Keyser High School, will include room for expanded and updated 911 communications equipment, additional offices and storage, as well as other amenities.

"It will be both a 911 center and an emergency operations center where we can conduct the county's business during a disaster," Marc Bashoor, director of the Mineral County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, told the Times-News earlier this year.

In August, Bashoor presented the commissioners with preliminary floor plans for the new center, which included the 911 dispatch area, a kitchen, the OEM office, an emergency operations room, a conference room and the county's street mapping and addressing office.

Bashoor said the dispatch area is expected to be spacious enough to accommodate additional 911 dispatchers.

"We are currently operating with two dispatchers (per shift), but this gives us the capacity to go to five positions," he told the commissioners.

"We certainly anticipate going to three positions soon."

The current 911 center is located in the east end of the West Virginia State Police detachment on state Route 46 between Keyser and Fort Ashby, and has been overcrowded and outdated for several years.

The commissioners are also scheduled to hear a presentation from Ron Mathias of MEGCO Inspections on the topic of the proposed building code for the county.

That appointment is set for 1:30 p.m.

Other items on the agenda for today's meeting include several letters from Sheriff Gary White and the financial statement ending June 30, 2006, along with a number of routine correspondence.

The meeting gets under way at 9:30 a.m. and will be preceded by a county staff meeting at 8:30 a.m.

Contact Liz Beavers at lbeavers@times-news.com.