Henry County Opens New Emergency Operations Center

Henry County's New Emergency Operations Center

Henry County is now in a better position to handle large scale disasters with the opening of a new Emergency Operations Center on June 20, 2012. 

The 22,500 square foot building was purchased out of foreclosure for $1.15 million, paid for entirely with E-911 special funds, collected through surcharges on our phone bills.  It then underwent a total transformation.  The facility now features space for 18 E-911 operators, and houses a separate Emergency Operations Center, with ample room for training and Incident Command, as well as shared offices for outside agencies, such as the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, the Henry County Health Department, Board of Education, GDOT and others who may need to be on site, depending on the type and severity of the crisis. 

“A facility like this Emergency Operations Center here in Henry County is vitally important because it plays several roles,” said Gary Harkins, Deputy Director of Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), who served as keynote speaker for the special dedication ceremony.  “It’s that nerve center where different disciplines can come together, police fire, sheriff’s department, EMA, EMS, Public Health, and if there is a disaster, those entities can come together and collect information from out in the field where the event is taking place, assess that information, make decisions that are going to affect the lives and property of the citizens of Henry County, and then disseminate that information to their staff that are out in the field providing services to citizens in times of need.”

The total budget for the facility was $4.83 million, including the original building and land, all renovations, and fixtures and equipment.  It also includes the furnishings, much of which was used furniture purchased through government surplus for pennies on the dollar.  E-911 Special Funds contributed just over $3 million toward the total, with SPLOST paying $300,000, impact fees contributing $238,148, and a COPS grant chipping in $175,000.  There is also a lease for the communications equipment and critical battery backup systems for the facility totaling $1.9 million.

But choosing to renovate the aging RV center, as opposed to building a new building in another location, saved even more money than one might expect. 

The new facility sits next door to the former E-911 Center, enabling the massive communications infrastructure for E-911 to remain in place.  That alone saved the county about $1 million, which was the estimated cost to completely relocate the communications hub if the E-911 facility had located elsewhere in the county.  But because it was right next door, the County only had to run fiber from one building to the other, at a cost of $6,990.

“The concept and design of our center is to be able to have the technology and resources to do what we do – emergency management and emergency communications,” explained Don Ash, Henry County Emergency Management Agency Director.  “Our operators now have the most advanced equipment to protect our public safety as well as the citizens we serve.”

The high-tech facility features a state of the art voiceover IP 911 system from AT&T that will enable E911 operators to know the GPS location of an emergency call instantly, even when placed by a cell phone, which is of critical importance with 75 percent of all emergency calls in Henry County originating from mobile devices. 

It’s this state of the art technology, together with ample space for all of the entities to come together that will enable first responders and state and federal agencies to more effectively collaborate during a crisis.

“If a disaster takes place in Henry County, this Emergency Operations Center is the hub in Henry County that will filter information back to us at the State Operations Center in Atlanta, so it’s vitally important for us to have that connectivity at the local and state level,” said Gary Kelley.  “We have great partners down here and value very much the partnership that we have with Henry County.”

The new Emergency Operations Center is located at 526 Industrial Boulevard in McDonough.  For more information about the Henry County Emergency Operations Center or its emergency preparedness programs, visit www.henrycounty-ga.org/911.

Don Ash, Directory of Henry County Emergency Management Agency, cuts the ribbon on the new Emergency Operations Center. Joining him were, from left to right, (front row) Commission Chairman Elizabeth 'B.J.' Mathis, District 1 Commissioner Warren Holder, District 2 Commissioner Brian Preston, and District 5 Commissioner Bruce Holmes; (second Row)Chief of Police Keith Nichols, County Manager Fred Auletta, Fire Chief Bill Lacy, Sheriff Keith McBrayer, and Gary Kelley, Deputy Director of Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA).

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