Hennepin County, Minn., Wants $25 Million Call Center
By Bob Geiger, Finance & Commerce
Original publication date: Nov. 2
Hennepin County (Minn.) Commissioner Jeff Johnson wants a $25 million emergency communications facility to be built on the site of the Adult Corrections Facility in Plymouth, an area he represents.
The new center would replace the county’s 14,400-square-foot call center in Golden Valley. The 62-year-old dispatch center receives 670,000 calls a year, or 1,835 calls a day, and is expected to reach its maximum annual call capacity of 750,000 by 2012.
Johnson, who represents the 7th District in the western part of the county, said he wants a “hardened” facility that’s designed to withstand natural disasters or terrorist attacks.
A new facility, included in the county’s capital budget for 2010-2014, over time would combine the Hennepin County sheriff’s office with 911 services in other metro areas.
“That’s not necessarily the most efficient way of doing things,” said Johnson, a former state legislator who lives in Plymouth. He thinks it would be more cost efficient to place the new call center on the same site as the corrections facility, at 1145 Shenandoah Lane N in Plymouth.
According to county records, a 2006 pre-design study indicated significant space shortages and layout deficiencies in the Golden Valley call center.
That study recommended construction of a facility to protect critical 911 dispatch staff and equipment, improve continuity of operations, eliminate space constraints and increase the number of dispatch consoles to handle more calls. Golden Valley is not under consideration as a site.
The Hennepin County sheriff’s office provides 911 and emergency computer-aided dispatch for 19 area fire departments and 23 law enforcement agencies in 36 communities.
Although the selection of the call center’s site and design were on Tuesday’s board agenda, Johnson asked commissioners to delay consideration because of Commissioner Peter McLaughlin’s absence on Election Day. A vote on the proposal could come Nov. 16.
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