Financing and construction of a communications building for Washington County will be the topic of a work session Tuesday.

The County Board of Supervisors recently approved raising the debt service levy to help fund the emergency communications equipment that is needed, and is considered essential. At a recent press conference communications supervisor Cara Sorrells explained the equipment needs updated, “It needs to be replaced. And like I said, if we have a major incident we’re all going to feel really bad if we have to go scurry around and find parts so we can keep broadcasting. It does work, but it imagine turning on your personal computer and leaving it on every hour of every day 365 days a year, that’s what’s going on with these radios and these computers, they just keep running so they need replaced.”

The funds that have been approved so far are only for the equipment and not for a building in which to house it. The current dispatch building is the former jail, and it was originally constructed in the 1960’s. There have been electrical and mold issues in the building. The meeting will begin at 11 a.m. in the supervisors chambers in the basement of the Washington County Courthouse to discuss the building itself.