$500,000 set aside to expand 911 center

The Columbia County Sheriff's Office has won approval to set aside funds for an expansion of the 911 center.

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At a meeting last week, county commissioners earmarked $500,000 in the 911 center reserve fund for the building project.

"We have simply outgrown our current facility," which was built in the early 1990s, sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said.

Morris added that no other funding sources have been identified and that construction figures were not immediately available.

"I don't know that plans have been drawn up at this point," he said. "We're in the very early stages."

The 911 center employs 28 people working inside a 1,600-square-foot space in Appling. It is not known whether the center will be renovated or a new building will be constructed. Morris said if it is a new center it would be built at the Detention Center site off Columbia Road.

Even with $500,000 set aside for construction, the 911 center still has a reserve fund of nearly $3 million, said county Finance Director Leanne Reece.

"They still have a total fund balance, but they're going to reserve a piece of it to use for this expansion," she said.

Funding for 911 is collected through fees charged on landline and mobile phones.

Last fiscal year, the county collected more than $2.2 million in 911 fees.