County Breaks Ground on $16M 9-1-1 Center

Monmouth County’s emergency service response system debuted in a closet in the Hall of Records in 1936. Over 75 years later, the county’s 9-1-1 operations will be housed in a 45,000-square-foot facility in Freehold Township.

The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders and Sheriff Shaun Golden broke ground Thursday on a $16 million 9-1-1 Communications Center at 2500 Kozloski Road.

“We looked at a number of locations, including Fort Monmouth, and we determined that the building that will be behind us was the best way to proceed. This building will help ensure the public safety of the people who live, work and visit Monmouth County,” Freeholder Lillian Burry said.

The new facility is being built behind the existing 4,000-square-foot 9-1-1 Communications Center in. County dispatchers answer calls for 45 towns, Naval Weapons Station Earle and Fort Monmouth property, and dispatch for 10 police departments, 50 fire companies and 23 first aid squads.

Freeholder Thomas Arnone, a liaison to the Office of Shared Services, hopes the state of the art facility will be an incentive for Monmouth County towns to join the county dispatch.

“We’re trying to help the municipalities have savings and increase efficiencies,” Arnone said. “We’re trying to make partnerships.”

The county has announced plans to expand and upgrade emergency service communications in recent months. In addition to the new center, county introduced plans in May for a regional 9-1-1 substation in the former Neptune Senior Center on Route 33 and Neptune Boulevard to provide dispatching services for shore towns. In June, the Board of Chosen Freeholders approved a $22.56 million contract with Motorola to design, build, install and maintain a digital radio network for emergency services across the county to communicate on one frequency. The county also approved a $7.03 million contract with Motorola for radio communications equipment for the network.

The new 9-1-1 Communications Center, along with other improvements, will enable emergency services professionals around the region to better communicate, according to Golden. The facility will have the capacity to provide shared communications services to all 53 municipalities in the county.

 “This building will be a model for shared services in terms of communications, information technology and dispatch 9-1-1 services,” Golden said.

He noted that the call volume in the county has tripled since 2000, with 643,070 calls taken in 2010.

“We are only working out of 4,000 square feet. I call it the sardine can. If you can see how are operators make it happen every day, you would truly be amazed,” Golden said.

The new facility is expected to be in full operation by spring of 2013, according to Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Cynthia Scott.