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Press Release
Additions to 911 Communications Building Expected to Cause Minor Delay in Opening
The expected move in date of September 15th, 2009 for the newly constructed Gallatin County 9-1-1 Center has been postponed until October 12th, 2009. The County has received notice of three significant grant awards during the course of construction that will allow for additions to the scope of work and help support the project budget., The primary cause for the construction delay is the result of an increase in the height of the communications tower and the supporting base structure. To better meet the future needs of the facility, the size of the tower is being increased for purposes of carrying the microwave path necessary to reach multiple locations for radio signal transmission. To incorporate the re-design the County will postpone its projected completion date. The source of funds for this
improvement came via a Community Orientated Policing Services (COPS) grant, in which the County will receive a $500,000 award. Additional time was also needed to accommodate the criteria for grant submission.
Gallatin County also received a grant award in the amount of $300,000 from the Montana Interoperability Project. This funding will be used to help purchase a Motorola MCC7500 radio console system. The County also plans to allocate $60,000 from a grant award received from the Department of Energy to install a solar powered addition to the equipment room. Receipt of the grant funding has offset the County’s original budget allocation to the project and these improvements will be made with minor increases in the overall project construction budget.
Construction of the building structure is essentially complete. The County must now go about the process of installing $1.6 million in technology and insuring that every aspect of the system is functioning properly before a cross over from the old location to the new facility takes place. The re-designed radio tower is expected to arrive the week of July 13th. In order to provide the best possible final product, we are electing to delay final paving until after the new tower is erected. Paving will most likely occur the week of July 20th. A formal Certificate of Occupancy, issued by the City of Bozeman after final inspection, is anticipated at the end of July.
If you have questions, please contact Larry Watson (406-582-3192) or Ben Hess (406-582-2092).
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