May 22, 2008
By ANN PIERCEALL

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Marion County 911 will break ground Friday for its new $2.1 million communications center.

The 911 board met May 17 to open bids and awarded construction of the center to Bleigh Construction of Hannibal, which came in with the low bid of $2,167,000. Bleigh was also awarded a contract for $35,697 to fence the 911 center’s property.

“We were bracing for a lot worse,” said Mike Hall, director of Marion County 911. “We were thrilled there was no major increase to what we looked at six months ago.

“It’s a realization of a dream that the founding members of the board had 15 years ago. It’s exciting to know in about a year we’ll be able to provide better service to the public with better equipment and better facilities.”

Al Durand, 911 Board chairman, is a founding member. He credited the creation of the service to Lee Keck, former publisher of the Palmyra Spectator, who Durand said worked “years trying to get enough interest” in bringing 911 to the area.

In 1993, Marion County voters approved a telephone surcharge to fund operations. In 2003, that surcharge was switched to a quarter-cent sales tax to provide a more consistent funding source.

Hall said construction is expected to take about a year. The land for the new center, on the northern edge of Hannibal along U.S. 61, was bought in February 2006 from Mary Lou Callicott.

Marion County 911 learned in 2005 it would receive a $500,000 grant for equipment upgrades. By then, the service already had outgrown its facilities in the basement of the Hannibal Police Department, and the board was contemplating a move.

Durand said the Hannibal Police Department has been a good place to work, “but in order to do things we need do now with the technology that’s out there, we need a lot more room.”

The project was delayed last fall because it had to be re-bid after running into a snag with a Missouri statute. That statute requires public works jobs be done by Missouri residents when unemployment rises above 5 percent for two consecutive months.

Initially, planning to wait out the seasonal rise in unemployment, Hall said the board decided after the economic slump this winter and spring to ask for bids that included the statutory requirements.

“We have the majority of our equipment ready and waiting,” Hall said. The new equipment will include a GIS system to help track wireless 911 callers.

“What we ordered two years ago was cutting edge stuff and now it’s a standard,” Hall said. “We may be facing upgrading sooner, but we’ll still be catching up 15 years from where we are currently.”

Posted with permission thanks to the Quincy Herlad-Whig