By Patrick McCreless
The Anniston Star

The Calhoun County Commission is moving forward with ways to maintain the area’s emergency system once the federal funding disappears along with the remaining chemical weapons in Anniston.

During its regular meeting Thursday, the County Commission voted to hire a consulting firm to help the county maintain the area’s emergency preparedness communication system once federal funding is gone.

The commission also transferred control of three separate communication sites in neighboring Talladega County to the government there.

“They will be going through the same process we are,” said Dan Long, director of the Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency (EMA).

The commission will pay the firm, Engineering Associates, Inc., approximately $101,000 to do the consulting project.

“They will look at how to take the best care of the system and maintain the same quality of service,” Long said.

Calhoun County Administrator Ken Joiner said the consulting firm would determine ways to distribute control and maintenance of the system among the agencies that use it.

“The consulting firm will cover the whole (process) … and they will even go to some agencies and ask if they want to stay in the system or not,” Joiner said.
The final chemical weapons at the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility are scheduled to be destroyed by 2012, at which point the federal money provided to fund protection services in case of an accident will dry up.

Over the years, the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) has funneled millions of dollars into the EMA and other area agencies that would help deal with a chemical weapons-related accident.

The money has paid for staff and equipment, such as warning sirens and advanced radio systems used by area emergency first responders.

County Commissioner Eli Henderson said the consulting firm should help the county find ways to save money maintaining the emergency system at the same level of quality it has today.

“We’re not getting as much money for protection … that is one reason we’re going to combine the 911 in Jacksonville … to save money,” Henderson said.
Earlier this month, the commission hired an architectural firm to renovate the CSEPP-funded EMA building in Jacksonville so 911 dispatchers in Anniston could move in. With the end of the chemical weapons demolition program, many of the staff at the EMA building will no longer be necessary. By joining 911dispatch with EMA, the two agencies can share utility bills and other expenses, while both being housed in a state-of-the-art facility.