Port Angeles – The city of Port Angeles has taken another step towards the establishment of a new Emergency Operations Center to be located at William Fairchild Airport.

OAC Services, a Seattle-based firm, will be hired to conduct a pre-engineering review of the 15-thousand square foot building and make minor modifications if necessary. Costs are not to exceed $47-thousand five hundred dollars.

Port Angeles’ City Manager, Nathan West, spoke with us about the reasons for hiring OAC Services.

“It’s really important we get it right, and for that reason we’re taking the time to hire a professional to look into the architectural details of the existing structure. To look into the engineering details of that building, but also look and make sure that we can meet and attain any related needs for the building and then also identify what the costs would be for construction and fit out of the building as well as the long-term operating costs and make sure that the approach that we take is one that we can afford long into the future.”

Port Angeles Police Chief Brian Smith says the OAC would be working on a pre-design services report that would be done by May of this year. Following the information in that report, Smith went over what would happen next.

“Through that work you refine yourself down to build-out scenarios, project summary, floor plans, cost,  statements of advantages disadvantages and a theoretical schedules. Should you select one of those scenarios when we’re done with this project in early May, we will be able to tell this is how big we think this combined facility will be this is what we believe it’ll cost based on this report and this is a realistic timeline.”

When complete, this new facility will operate as an Emergency Operations Center for the city and county fire and police departments, and will also serve as the new dispatch center for PENCOM.