2008 News

October 17, 2008

Commissioners, Emergency Management Officials Cut Ribbon on New 911 Communications Center

Continuing an ongoing series of capital improvements intended to maximize services provided to Bucks County residents, the Board of Bucks County Commissioners joined local elected officials and members of the emergency management/first-response community on Oct. 15 to cut the ribbon on the county’s state-of-the-art, 911 Communications Center in Ivyland Borough. The center replaces the 911 Center on the 7th floor of the Doylestown courthouse.

The 911 Communications Center, initially conceptualized four years ago by county Emergency Management Director John Dougherty and Public Works Director Joe Bush, is a spacious second-story annex to the existing county Emergency Operations Center (EOC) – located at 911 Freedom Way. It is yet another step to centralize emergency services in one Ivyland/Warminster Twp. location. As Commissioner Chairman Jim Cawley noted during his welcoming remarks, the county’s first-ever Forensic Facility was opened last October, just across Johnsville Rd. from the EOC/911 Communications Center.

Chairman Cawley joined fellow Commissioners Charley Martin and Diane M. Ellis-Marseglia, LCSW to welcome a group of dignitaries that included former Commissioner Sandra A. Miller, State Representatives Scott Petri, Kathy Watson, Bernie O’Neill and Paul Clymer, county Chief Operating Officer/Managing Director David Sanko, Dougherty, 911 Communications Director Pete Ference and Operations Director Jerry Anderson, who helped oversee the project.

“This morning, for the second time in two weeks, we are taking another bold step in the ongoing capital improvement of Bucks County government,” Chairman Cawley states. “On Oct. 1, we cut the ribbon on the new Upper Bucks Government Services Center in Richland Twp. Within the last year, we have opened the county’s first Forensic Facility, a new Fire Training burn building in Doylestown Twp., a new district court and moved forward on multiple other projects.”

Dougherty expressed deep appreciation to the commissioners, noting: “It’s a very proud day for myself and the people in our 911 Center who have worked very hard to get everything running properly. I’m very proud. This is something I’ve visualized for years. To see it actually happen … it’s beyond words.”

Chairman Cawley quantified the volume of work that the county’s 911 dispatchers do on a daily basis, reporting that the new call center handled 41,312 calls between October 1 and 13. Of those, 3,554 were 911 calls.

Ference, who presented a 911 dispatch uniform (an oxford-cloth shirt) to each of the commissioners, thanked his staff for its diligence during the move from Doylestown to Ivyland. “Our dispatchers, our shift leaders, our squad leaders and our administrators, they are the soul of our center,” Ference said. “Those people who call us are part of an extended family. If they feel that way, then we’ve done our mission.”

Chairman Cawley amplified on that mission, stressing that the commissioners and administration are committed to “making sure each time someone calls those three digits – 911 – they are all handled efficiently, promptly with professionalism and courtesy.”

To listen to audio of the ribbon cutting, please click on the “Capital Projects” link on the official county Web site, www.BucksCounty.org.