WALTHALL — The Board Supervisors has adopted the basic floor plan for the Webster County Emergency Operations Center that will be built here by the Courthouse.
The facility will house sheriff’s offices, inmate dormitories, holding and padded cells, Justice Court offices and courtroom, 911 dispatching operations and a disaster command center.
Belinda Stewart Architects of Eupora is providing architectural and construction management services. Stewart addressed the board about the project on Aug. 7, and Sheriff David Gore and Undersheriff Tim Roberson met with BSA staff on Sept. 6 to review and finalize plans for the WCEOC.
Intern architect Cord Crenshaw distributed copies of the basic floor plan to supervisors during their Sept. 18 recessed meeting at the Courthouse. That day was the deadline to submit the schematic design to USDA Rural Development so the agency could start the review process for a $3 million grant the agency has allocated for the project.
Crenshaw said space had been allocated to allow for dayroom expansion if needed. A county-funded annex for storage and voting machines will adjoin the structure.
Supervisors adopted the WCEOC basic floor plan dated Sept. 6 as proposed by Belinda Stewart Architects.
“This will be an asset to Webster County,” board President Pat Cummings said.
He was referring in part to savings the county should see in electricity and other costs associated with maintaining the old buildings that now house the Sheriff’s Department/jail and Justice Court in Eupora. The county also pays $3,000 a month to lease space for the 911 center in Mathiston.
Stewart and Crenshaw were back before the board Oct. 2, when they distributed copies of the final schematic site plan for the WCEOC.
Roberson said a copy of the floor plan was delivered to Rural Development’s Starkville office on Sept. 18 and that an official there predicted the county would be breaking ground next spring. Cliff Russell of that office was called during the meeting to go over the grant distribution process.
The architects gave a cost estimate of $4.8 million for the facility. Stewart said that figure could be revised as the project proceeds, and if necessary, alternate bids could be taken to meet the budget.
The budgeted amount includes the $3 million from USDA RD and $1.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds. However, Cummings said the county was not yet sure if it could use its ARPA money for the project, and if so approved, it could only be spent where stipulated. The county is also hoping to receive $2.3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to harden the building.
