By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–At a busy meeting Monday evening, Henry County 911 Director Mark Archer updated the board on renovation of the rear of the 911 offices into a backup dispatch center and the ongoing second phase of the county-wide digital radio project.
Both projects are progressing rapidly, Archer said, with the dispatch center renovation “way ahead of schedule” and the digital radio project “just about finished.”
New digital radios have been handed out to all the county’s emergency personnel and for the first time, Archer said, “all our agencies will be on the same system. This is a very large project and the city and the county have been great and this board has been awesome.”
The project has “saved the county hundreds of thousands of dollars with the way people have pitched in,” Archer said, noting his belief that no one in the state has a system like this. “I’m very proud of it.”
For example, Archer said that IT Manager Chad Howard has “personally programmed over 800 radios” for local first responders. “That’s one of the ways we’re saving folks money,” he said.
Henry County Sheriff Josh Frey said, “There’s been a few hiccups like with any new project but we’ve finally got the system down to where problems are fixed. It’s a real team effort.”
Archer said the completion of the backup dispatch center in the rear of the 911 building on Brewer Street “is way ahead of schedule…We’re on a fast track to get it done”. The new backup dispatch center will be a secure location that only employees are allowed in and will include dispatch consoles with video walls and cameras displayed and supervisor’s area.
At previous meetings, Owens Construction of Paris was selected as contractor and Kevin Perry of Archi-ology of Murray was chosen to oversee the remainder of the project. The space is intended to replace the dispatch area at the Henry County Sheriff’s Office as the 911 backup center. The dispatch at Paris City Hall will remain the primary dispatch center for the county. The project should be finished by Nov. 15.
In other business:
–Archer noted the plaque honoring former County EMS Director Mike Shankle has been placed in the entrance hall of the building. In March, the 911 Board approved the naming of the Mike Shankle 911 Life-Saving Award in his honor and his family was present for the dedication.
He said Sign and Trophy Express created the plaque. “It warms my heart to see it there,” Archer said.
–911 Board Chairman John Etheridge complimented Archer on his reappointment to the state board. “When you’ve been appointed by that many governors, you know you must be doing something right.”
–Archer also was complimented on the clean audit with no findings for the 911 program.
–Archer updated the board on the relocation of the Carl Perkins Center, which has been occupying office space in the 911 building for several years. He said with the renovations ongoing and the fact that the Carl Perkins Center has grown from two to five employees and is busier than ever right now, the Perkins Center is in the process of moving to W. Washington Street adjacent to the Paris City Hall.
–The board voted unanimously to sell property on the 218 bypass which was purchased in 2010 for a possible multi-agency project that never materialized.
Photo: Sheriff Josh Frey, left, and 911 Director Mark Archer look over the backup dispatch center renovations. Shannon McFarlin photo.