WARREN — Trumbull County’s 911 Review Board voted 3-1 Tuesday to recommend having the second floor of the Trumbull County Combined Health District in Cortland serve as the site of a new 911 dispatching center.

The committee’s recommendation will be sent to the Trumbull County commissioners as they seek ways to pay for the proposed new center. Warren Mayor Doug Franklin cast the lone ‘no’ vote on the recommendation.

City Safety-Service Director Eddie Colbert, who attended the meeting with Franklin, asked Trumbull County 911 Center Director Tacy McDonough several questions about Warren’s Government Service Center, 258 E. Market St., which also has been mentioned as a possible site for the 911 Center.

The city in December 2013 purchased the three-story former Gibson Building for $2.5 million.

While noting she liked the site as a possible location, McDonough said the renovation of the Health Department building would cost less than the former Gibson Building.

In addition, the Health Department has offered to provide the second floor of its building at no cost to the county, except for paying the utility costs for the entire building and sharing maintenance expenses. The county’s health department building was recommended as the site for the 911 location in a feasibility study released in 2024.

Trumbull County commissioners in recent weeks appear to have settled among themselves the proposed locations of Trumbull County’s Emergency Management Agency building, the coroner’s office, dog pound and the 911 center. However, commissioners have not determined how to pay for the various relocations.

The only newly built building will be the dog pound, which will be located next door to the Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County on Youngstown Kingsville Road in Vienna.

Colbert said he previously requested some staffing information about the 911 center, but did not receive it. McDonough said she supplied the information that was requested.

The 911 Center has 17 full-time dispatchers, two trainees, as well as the assistant director and director. There is one dispatcher on maternity leave.

Warren, at this point, is not sure it could match the health department’s offer to house the 911 Center.

“I just showed someone the (Warren Government Services) building last week,” Colbert said. “They, obviously, would be paying rent. We would have to do a cost-benefit analysis.”

Colbert questioned what cell tower the 911 Center will use to transmit its calls. McDonough noted they have several options.

Commissioner Denny Malloy, also a member of the 911 Review Board, said the county is looking at installing a tower near the Trumbull County Fairgrounds in Bazetta, which is not too far from the Cortland site. McDonough added there are other options they are looking to use on both a temporary and permanent basis.

Colbert noted a tower could cost $500,000.

McDonough said she would like to select a consultant to work with the architectural firm of Phillips Sekanick Architects, Inc. of Warren to work on the first phase in the development of the 911 Center if the Cortland building is selected for the site.

“Phase 1 would be drawing renderings, providing cost proposals for the project and making sure everything fits within the layout of the building,” McDonough said.

The director suggested she is not sure how long Health Department Director Frank Migliozzi will be willing to hold the space while the county decides whether it wants to go into its building and whether the county has the money to make the move.

McDonough told her board members there were 215,114 non-emergency calls in Trumbull County last year. There were 88,383 emergency calls throughout the county, which includes Niles, Lordstown and Girard.

“Just the Trumbull County Dispatch, there were 201,411 non-emergency calls and 71,651 emergency calls,” she said. “Warren city had 32,942 non-emergency calls on the city lines.”

During today’s commissioners meeting, McDonough will ask the commissioners to approve providing the 911 Center $142,246 to purchase replacement servers from ID Networks in Ashtabula. Its current servers are eight years old, and it is difficult to find replacement parts.

McDonough also is seeking $143,000 to buy a replacement for its current Verint recorder, which is no longer supported due to its age.

“There is a statewide MARCS radio update in May that will further necessitate the need to replace the current system,” she said.

McDonough will request a network equipment replacement that costs between $40,000 and $50,000.

All new equipment being purchased for the 911 Center is designed to move to a new location, according to McDonough.

“We are basically rebuilding Trumbull 911 from the floor up,” McDonough said. “Trying to fix or shore up all of the things we’ve discovered since I arrived here.”

Malloy expressed support for Trumbull 911 to move into the second floor of the Trumbull County Health Department.

He noted the county has not been billed by Insight for the electricity that has been used since the company took over the hospital system about six months ago.