City gets $350K for emergency center

Brookings Fire Chief Bill Sharp, left, City Manager Gary Milliman and Police Chief Chris Wallace stand where the emergency center will be built. The Pilot/Arwyn Rice

The EOC will be located next to the new emergency antenna and generator in the Brookings City Hall parking lot.

The city of Brookings left a space vacant after the construction of the antenna and generator housing, with hopes that “someday” funding might become available.

“I’ve been talking to Senators (Ron) Wyden and (Jeff)Merkley on this,” Milliman said. “But you never know if it’s going to get through.”

The funding will first go through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which will create rules governing the use of the funding before distributing it to municipalities.

The funding is expected to arrive in six to nine months, Milliman said.

Once the funding arrives, the new EOC will be constructed of earthquake-resistant reinforced cement similar to the adjacent generator house.

The building will house emergency communication equipment, tables and wall screens and charts to monitor emergency conditions during fire, flood, or tsunami, or after an earthquake.

If a major emergency occurs, the EOC will house the police chief, fire chief, representatives of Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative, the U.S Coast Guard and representatives of any other agencies involved in emergency operations.

The EOC is the final piece of the new communications system installed at city hall, including a the $900,000 antennae tower and emergency generator.

If a power outage occurs, the generator will power the antennae, 911 call center and the EOC.