Athens County is looking to conduct a feasibility study for the possibility of building a central facility to house all of the local safety service departments in one location
Since July, Athens City Council members have been looking into the possibility for a joint facility to house local safety service departments.
The facility would be the new headquarters for the Athens Police Department, the Athens Fire Department and the Ohio University Police Department, despite early talks that included all Athens County service safety departments as well.
It is believed the possible merger of city and university departments will lead to significant cost reduction, enhanced quality of service and collaboration, Athens City Councilman Steve Patterson, D-At Large, said.
The local safety services would all be housed in the same location somewhere in Athens County if the feasibility study proves to be successful.
OUPD Chief Andrew Powers has been leading the charge from the beginning, said OUPD Lt. Tim Ryan.
“Chief Powers has been involved in conversations with various public safety service partners for a while now,” Ryan said.
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One reason as to why Athens may want to construct a joint facility is because there just isn’t a need for all these separate departments in a small town like Athens, Ryan said.
“(Some benefits include) shared services and shared spaces.” he said. “Is there a need for a three of everything in Athens, or are there ways we could share some things like maybe a bigger evidence room instead of three small rooms?”
Currently, the only question the city council members need answered is whether or not this project is financially viable.
“At this point, this is just a feasibility study to see if the project is possible, nothing else,” Councilman Kent Butler, D-1st Ward, said.
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The ordinance was agreed upon by city council members before their summer hiatus, allowing Athens Service-Safety Director Paula Horan-Moseley to submit an application to the local government innovation program for a grant to fund the feasibility study.
“The Local Government Innovation Program was developed to help communities across Ohio and local governments improve efficiency in the services they provide and promote sharing of services,” said Penny Martin, the Public Information Officer for the Ohio Department of Development.
The study calls for up to a $50,000 no-match grant, which means if the local government innovation program awards the city the grant “Athens does not have to match, in any way, shape, or form this particular grant under this mechanism,” Patterson said at a June 15 council meeting.
City officials have until Sept. 14, to submit their application, though as of Aug. 16, they had not sent in the application, Martin said.
“They will have to present a plan to us,” Martin said. “We want a line item budget from each applicant, what the project is, what they are studying, explaining how much funds they need, and what they are looking to do with those funds.”
Once officials submit their application they should hear from the DOD sometime in December, Martin said.
“We have a scoring team that uses a rubric to evaluate the projects based on certain criteria and categories,” Martin said. “If they reach the certain point level they become eligible to be taken to the Local Government Innovation Council, who then makes the final decision.”
Most of the money is usually spent on hiring consultants who give their expertise, analysis and evaluation of the project, she added.
To date, the City of Athens has twice submitted an application to the LGIF.
The city was not awarded a grant either time, Martin said.
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