SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – Chatham County’s long-awaited 911 and emergency operations center is facing another round of delays – and rising costs.
The building is expected to be able to operate off-grid for up to 72 hours and will be located near the Savannah-Hilton Head Airport on 624 Gulf Stream Road.
A meeting in downtown Savannah this week shed light on why this crucial project has been stuck in neutral. After breaking ground on the site in May 2024 where the facility will be built, there is still no contractor for the project.
Groundbreaking of the facility with officials seven months ago.
Plans for the Chatham County's Multi-Agency Public Safety Center are moving forward, but not without challenges.
While officials say the delays aim to confirm competition and save costs, some taxpayers are growing frustrated. The facility is in high demand, as the current emergency center cannot withstand hurricanes beyond Category 3, according to 2017 assessments.
So far, the county has 10 bidders, and requests for proposals.
Previous bids were rejected, with some contractors failing to meet business goals or violating policies.
The delay has allowed the county to address over 200 questions raised about the facility's advanced technology and storm-resilient features, which can prevent mistakes from being made on the site in the future and likely save money on the project.
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"The 200 questions … Actually, looking at the plans and specs and really asking the questions. Does this fit with that? Does this go here? Is this the right size? So, we're able to go in there and actually finalize those plans," said Dennis Jones, Chatham's Emergency Management Agency director. "Hopefully, the changes will be minimal."
The last construction estimates on building the facility was $89 million, with a timeline of two to three years. And that two-to-three-year period is once a contractor is selected. The facility will also cover nearly 83,000 square feet.
"This facility is probably one of the more complicated facilities that you're going to see in Chatham County, especially in technology. It's quite a bit more technologically advanced than even the courthouse that you're building now," said Jones to the Chatham County commissioners when discussing the progress of the site.
In a response to questions about the delay, the county released this shared statement: "The change order approved at Friday's commission meeting was for additional design work. We're still in the design phase. Once the new design goes back out for bidding, we'll get bids for construction through the request for proposal process."
This past Friday, commissioners voted on a $71,140 contract amendment with the Florida-based design firm overseeing the project. It’s the sixth change order since 2018, bringing the total design contract cost to $4.5 million — more than double its original budget. Once the architecture and design are finalized, the county will choose a general contractor.
Drawings of Chatham County's Multi-Agency Public Safety Center
The facility will be able to withstand Category 5 hurricanes and EF4 tornadoes, providing shelter for up to 450 emergency employees during disasters. Commissioners point out that the extra planning will now save taxpayers millions by avoiding costly changes during construction.
"This is a survivable structure, one of if not the most survivable structure in all of Chatham County is what we are building here," said Jones. "It will have double backups and, in some cases, triple backups so that we can live completely off the grid."
Chatham County told WSAV that they have no timeline on when a contractor will be chosen; it could be a week or months.