County Commission looks at repairs at Emergency Operations Center

Vernon County Northern Commissioner Neal Gerster and Presiding Commissioner Bonnie McCord look on as Wes Ogle of Buildet L.L.C examines some damage done to the ceiling of the second floor of the Emergency Operations Center at 800 East Hickory Street during Buildet's work replacing the roof a couple of weeks ago. Ogle said they were not aware of the damage because they had no access that part of the building during the roofing but they will ceratianly "take care of it."Photo by Rusty Murry/Daily Mail

Nevada Daily Mail

The Vernon County commissioners spent part of Tuesday morning inspecting some damage and discussing security issues at the county owned Emergency Operations Center at 800 East Hickory Street, in Nevada.

Presiding Commissioner Bonnie McCord, Southern Commissioner Everett Wolfe and Northern Commissioner Neal Gerster met Wes Ogle, of Buildet LLC. at the facility to discuss a change order and some damage done to the building while workers from Buildet put a new sheet metal roof on the building a couple of weeks ago.

A newly built angle iron cage surrounds the remaining air conditioning unit at the Vernon County Emergency Operations Center at 800 East Hickory in Nevada. The cage was installed in response to the theft of other air conditioning unit which sat where the light spot to the left of of the remaining unit is. The Vernon County Commission and Sheriff Jason Mosher met at the EOC on Tuesday to discuss some options for making the building and grounds more secure. Photo by Rusty Murry/Daily Mail.

All of the issues were minor in nature. There was some work done on the soffit and fascia on the east side of the building that Gerster thought could have been done a little differently and painted to make it look better. Ogle agreed and said it would be fixed, Gerster said the county would do the painting. There was also an area in the upstairs where some insulation could have been done a little better and there was a mess left to clean up.

The key issue was a place in an upstairs meeting room where someone had stepped through the ceiling. Ogle said the board in that area should have been replaced. There was also some damage to the ceiling tile. Ogle told the commission they didn't have access to that part of the building while they were putting on the roof, or they would have known about the damage and fixed it then. He said all the items will get quick attention.

"I can take care of it this week," he said.

The commissioners also met with Sheriff Jason Mosher to talk about security issues at the EOC. There have been several incidents of theft at the EOC and nearby properties recently and one of which was the theft of an entire air conditioning unit. Gerster said that fuel had also been stolen from some of the county road and bridge vehicles which are parked next door.

The county owns the entire two blocks along Colorado Street between Locust and Hickory streets, with the EOC being on the north and the recycling center on the south with the road and bridge department barn in the middle. There have also been batteries and other items stolen in the past.

According to Wolfe, the saddle tanks on the big flatbed the road and bridge crew uses are hard to secure. Wolfe said he had talked with some truckers who told him there is a way to lock the tanks, but the parts have to be fabricated because they are not available commercially. Right now all a thief has to do is screw the lid off the tank to get to the fuel.

The commissioners and sheriff discussed different options for putting up cameras and lights. Mosher thinks a combination of lights and cameras is probably the best route. Some of the area is lit now, but Mosher thinks motion- sensing lights that come on suddenly and brightly will be the best deterrent. Location of the lights came into question, as did the number needed.

Part of that equation depends on the number, type and location of cameras that can be installed. Trail cameras like deer hunters use were mentioned but they have limited capabilities in areas of memory, clarity, range and some other specifications. The more expensive ones would work well but if the county is going to spend that kind of money, Mosher recommended it purchase cameras and a system similar to the one installed in the courthouse a few months ago.

Mosher said a system like that can record everything that happens and be used as evidence in the event that something does happen. McCord mentioned that there is already a vault in the building that would keep the recording equipment secure. Price is the bottom line and the commission will begin looking into the cost of implementing some of the suggestions after speaking with county Internet technician Tim Bourassa who has already done some preliminary work pricing cameras and other equipment.

They also discussed gating the EOC lot. Most of it is already fenced and there were gates at one time. Mosher said gates would be a considerable expense, but adding that feature to cameras and lights would make the whole facility very secure. Especially if the trees in the lot were cut.