A stout building to withstand extreme weather will be constructed in Washington to house the county’s emergency communications operations and equipment. At Tuesday’s Washington County Board of Supervisors meeting the proposed plans, specifications, form of contract and estimated cost for the building was approved. The estimated cost is $4.35 million. In October of last year, the supervisors approved issuing bonds in a principal amount of up to $3.5 million.

Matt Miller with Carl A. Nelson said the project will have multiple bid packages, “So the form of contract here is multiple prime contracts. So we’re going to have five bid packages will bid for this project and they’re listed on your budget sheet. And those will be let all at once, so our plan is to have plans and specifications out for bid on Monday. The budget for this project is $4.35 million, $3.475 million is for the building construction and then $875,000 is the technology allowance for the pieces that go in here to support the technology and radio services equipment that are going into the building.”

The masonry building meets FEMA standards. It has technology upgrades, backup power sources, special cooling systems for the equipment, and a fire protection plan that wouldn’t damage equipment. Bids will be back in for consideration on June 26th, and the tentative date for a groundbreaking ceremony is July 10th. This project goes hand-in-hand with the emergency communications equipment upgrade for dispatch that RACOM is working on for $5.8 million. The new communications building will be constructed next to the sheriff’s office.