Franklin County Commissioners on Tuesday signed a Grant for 200 thousand dollars to fund the planning and design of a new Emergency Operations Center for the county

Franklin County Commissioners on Tuesday signed a Grant for 200 thousand dollars to fund the planning and design of a new Emergency Operations Center for the county.

The money will allow the county to hire an engineering firm to design a new EOC and once that is complete the county will need to find construction money to actually build the building.

A new EOC has been a top priority for the county for a number of years.

The current EOC building is located at the Apalachicola airport – it used to belong to the National weather service but was converted to Emergency Management use when the weather service moved to Tallahassee.

The aging building needs to be replaced – its almost 50 years old, it is too small for an EOC and its located is in a flood zone.

Franklin County is the only coastal county in the panhandle that does not have a new EOC and after Hurricane Michael the need for a new building is even more obvious.

The county is seeking construction funds from the legislature and hope the program will be funded next year.

If not, the county does have a million dollars in BP oil spill money that could be used if necessary, though the county has other needed projects it would like to use that money for.

http://live.oysterradio.com/