Building a rest room facility near the Douglas County Emergency Dispatch Center may be a good idea, but two commissioners said Monday they didn't want to take such action without more information.
Emergency communications center director Jim Denney asked commissioners to approve a proposed rest room closer to the communication center within the Douglas County Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St. The estimated cost of the project was $16,330.
Commission Chairman Charles Jones said it seemed more appropriate to discuss the request while commissioners work on the county budget in the spring and summer. He also suggested looking at how the center was functioning.
"I'm not opposed to it, but I don't want to do this without looking at the entire space," Jones said. Commissioner Bob Johnson agreed.
Denney said the rest room would benefit dispatchers and mean less time away from their jobs. Commissioner Jere McElhaney agreed with Denney and argued for the rest room facility.
When the building was renovated in 2001, a rest room area was included in the plans but was pulled for budget reasons. McElhaney said the cost of the rest room was about $30,000 at that time and said the county will have saved money by waiting.
He said reviewing the entire building was a good idea, but argued that the rest rooms were needed regardless how the rest of the building is working.
"Don't chalk this up to experience," he said. "Chalk this up to something we need to do. We made a decision and saved $16,000. Now we have a room we could use and help the employees."
McElhaney moved to approve the proposed rest room, but the motion died for lack of a second.
Jones said many people compromised to make the law enforcement center work and it would be unfair not to allow other department heads to speak their minds on what could be improved.
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