Schoharie County supervisors Friday agreed to move the E-911 and emergency communications center out of the flood plain and to a new location.
Following a recommendation from flood recovery coordinator Bill Cherry, Supervisors agreed to move the centers from the second floor of the flood-damaged jail to the former MOSA administrator building on Route 7 in Cobleskill.
The move will take place next year.
The approval is contingent on the funding being in the proposed 2015 budget.
"This move will ensure that the E-911 center will remain fully functional in the event of another flood," Mr. Cherry told supervisors. It's the only prudent thing to do."
It will take about seven to 10 months to complete the move, according to officials. The move will cost about $375,000. The proposed 2015 budget includes $340,000.
The Sheriff's office has secured grants for $550,000 for four emergency consoles for the new center.
Supervisors asked that there be no cost for water and sewer fees at the new site since the county gave $2 million for the soon to be completed Route 7 water and sewer project.
FEMA officials are still deliberating the fate of a new jail, so the new 911 center could be a secondary site if FEMA agrees to fund a new site for a jail and emergency communications center, according to Mr. Cherry.
In other flood recovery business, Mr. Cherry told supervisors that a backup plan is being considered for the floodgate project around the county buildings.
FEMA has already approved $6.2 million in funding for the floodgate project, according to Mr. Cherry. An engineer determined that because of the character of the soil around the county buildings, the grout curtain would have to extend down 30-feet and not just 10 feet increasing the cost of the project.
FEMA has not yet responded to the request for more funding.
If the extra funding is not approved, the county would have to complete the project using the existing $6.2 million, Mr. Cherry added.
More expensive floodgates would be replaced with less expensive but still waterproof stationary, decorative reinforced concrete walls. The biggest downside to this plan is that the complex would only be protected to a 500-year flood which is actual about 18-inches below the water level during Hurricane Irene.
Mr. Cherry also gave supervisors drawings of plans for a new raised Blenheim Covered Bridge. More detailed plans will be given to FEMA for funding approval next year.