Grant extended for EOC funding

Sarasota County received authorization for an extension on a $1 million grant to help fund the new emergency operations center, according to an email message from Sarasota County Fire Chief Mike Tobias.

The extension for the grant runs through April 30, 2013, meaning the county will have that amount available for the new command and control center, which will cost an estimated $12.5 million.

The project is designed to combine the Sarasota County emergency operations center, 911 call center, fire department administration offices and data centers. The emergency operations center, a hub connecting telecommunications of area emergency agencies, has been conducting drills in preparation for the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season, which begins Friday, June 1.

The current facility is on floor 6 of the Sarasota County Administration Building on Ringling Boulevard and plans for the new center would move it to be adjacent to I-75 in east Sarasota.

There is some administration paperwork to be finished before the authorization for extension is complete, according to the email message. When the project was initiated Commissioner Nora Patterson was chairwoman of the board of county commissioners and Commissioner Christine Robinson currently has the title.