Rogers seeks to build police communication center pending bond approval

ROGERS -- Emergency response dispatchers work out of a converted jail cell when severe weather hits Rogers.

"There are two dispatch consoles in it, and they don't have as much access to phone lines, computer terminals and things that they need," Police Chief Hayes Minor said. "So right now, our dispatchers have to evacuate our high-tech center and go into this old jail cell and still try to do their job with less than half the equipment that they have available to them."

Voters will decide next month whether to pay for an emergency dispatch center that Minor said will improve safety throughout town.

The city is asking voters to extend a 1 percent sales tax to pay for various capital projects and pay off a bond issue. The new issue, if approved, would continue a 2011 bond issue refinanced in 2015 by extending the 1 percent sales tax.

Other projects include city parks, streets and police equipment for a total bond issue estimated at $240 million.

The Police Department improvement project would get $11.5 million and pay for the new communications facility and a new radio system, Minor said.

Springdale voters in February approved a bond refinancing that included $40.8 million to build a criminal justice center for police and courts and to renovate the city administration building. The Fayetteville City Council in April approved a contract for a needs and space assessment study for the police department in anticipation of a bond issue on a ballot next year.

The communications facility in Rogers was placed on the ballot because of the potential danger the current one poses to the dispatchers, he said. The dispatch center is above the Police Department lobby facing west.

"From a safety standpoint, the building is just probably in the worst place possible. Most severe weather comes from the west and southwest, and they're exposed by a glass wall. So we've opted to build what we call a hardened facility," he said, referring to the converted jail cell.

"The majority of the dollars we're asking the public to approve will go to the facility," Minor said. "In times of crisis, these people are the ones the public calls."

The Police Department plans to build training areas within the building.

The radio system is included in the bond issue because it's almost 12 years old and outdated, Minor said.

"It is what we call in the industry 'end of life,'" Minor said. "It's to the point to where our suppliers can't find or make parts for it, and we've got to have top-notch communication in times of crisis."

The new system being considered is the Arkansas Wireless Information Network, which is a statewide communication system. Adopting that system would allow seamless communication with the State Police and other local emergency responders.

The network consists of more than 100 tower sites throughout the state.

"The beautiful thing about this program is that while we, the city, supply the infrastructure, maintenance is undertaken by the state since it's a statewide system," Minor said. "It's quickly becoming the go-to radio platform for many states across the country."

The radio program would cost $3.6 million and would provide three towers and equipment for all Rogers police, fire and dispatch, Minor said.

The last component of the police project is renovating the Police Department's building.

"We moved in here back in December 1999 and have done very little updating to the building systems since. So what remaining money we have will be used towards this," Minor said.

The department is looking to replace core mechanical systems, such as heating and air, as well as upgrading security.

"We constantly evaluate where we are in terms of need and prioritizing that list. This is not likely something that we would go and ask for in a normal budget year," Minor said.

NW News on 07/15/2018