Las Cruces Considers $9.7 Million Police and Fire Dispatch Center

The Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority is pushing for a new, central dispatch center, which operates together with fire and police on one main campus. Monday, Las Cruces City Council took a closer look at what a new facility would bring to the community.

“We’re really at capacity for that building,? Hugo Costa, director of MVRDA, said. ?The building was not built as a public safety 911 center.?

And now Costa says it is time to move out of their current building, a former bank built back in 1961, where dispatch quarters are cramped, electrical room are overloaded and technology is far from state-of-the-art.

“If we’re going to need to put in a new computer server, we’re going to have to take something out because we’re at electrical capacity for the building,? Costa said.

A conceptual floor plan gave councillors a closer look at how a new 30,000 square foot facility would be divided among dispatchers, fire and police. A pair of consultants hired to present further research estimated the total cost around $9,700,000.

?There’s no reason police, fire and the 911 center perhaps could not share training rooms, dormitories and exercise rooms,? S. Verdette Hall, director of RCC Consultants Inc., said.

City councillors say the enhancements will make the new center a public safety program.

“We’re looking at how we regionally can serve this area,? Dolores Connor, city councilor, said. ?So that’s also a focus at the MVRDA Center, is that we wanted it to not be a stand alone property.?

The current building sits along a congested roadway near downtown, where towers on top are also easily recognizable, which councillors point out, needs to change.

“Part of the added cost of why this building is so expensive is complying with these codes – redundant cooling systems, dual generators; things you would not have in a normal city office building somewhere,? Hall said.

An exact site somewhere in the east Mesa is still being decided.

“We’ve outgrown it,? Costa said. ?We can’t expand at all, and we know that the next 15, 20 years we are going to have to expand both technology wise and personnel wise just to handle the increasing call volume in counties and incorporated areas.”

Part of that expansion, Costa said, will include a satellite backup system. If the phone service provider system is ever down, Costa says a satellite backup would allow the dispatch center to continue operations, uninterrupted, unlike times in the past.

Dona Ana County Commissioners will further discuss the new facility Tuesday morning.