By Daniel Connolly, The Commercial Appeal
Original publication date: April 12, 2011

Memphis — Plans for a high-tech new countywide 911 operations center near Shelby Farms are on hold because the city of Memphis didn’t include funds for the project in its proposed budget this year.

The city still wants to see the project happen, but competing priorities make it impossible to put the estimated $4.7 million to $7 million in funding for the center in this year’s capital improvement budget, Chief Administrative Officer George Little said. He mentioned purchases of police and fire vehicles as examples of projects that it will recommend instead .

The city’s decision also prompted the Shelby County government to leave the project out of the proposed $31.7 million capital improvement budget that County Mayor Mark Luttrell’s administration formally presented to county commissioners Monday. Proposed projects include an $8 million upgrade to computer systems in criminal courts.

The exclusion of the 911 center funding represents another setback for a concept that has been delayed many times over the last several years, even as high-profile incidents exposed common emergency communications breakdowns.

Proponents say the Memphis area needs an emergency response center that could survive an earthquake or other major disaster and that would consolidate 911 facilities currently scattered among multiple buildings.

The Emergency Communications District of Shelby County has more than $21 million in a holding fund, said its director, Raymond Chiozza. Its board has pledged to contribute up to $23 million for building if the city and county can come together.

That fund is built off monthly fees charged on land lines and cellphones for 911 service.

Cost estimates for the project have varied over the years.

Last year, the talk was for a 100,000-square-foot facility near Shelby Farms that would cost $35 million to $40 million .

Shelby County Commissioner Mike Ritz said at the time that the price was too high. Commissioner Steve Mulroy said the plans changed.

The most recent version calls for the city and county to pay about $4.7 million each, said Mulroy, who added that he hopes the city will fund the project in the future.

“Here’s a chance for the city to pay around $4 million and get a $32 million facility out of it,” he said.

Little said his understanding was that the city would have to pay $7 million, but said his estimate is based on old numbers.

He said there’s some possibility city government might move forward with the project this year, perhaps in an old police services building in Downtown Memphis. But he said there are seismic concerns about that location.

“I certainly would advocate for a building that would survive an earthquake.”

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