WESTOVER — The new state-of-the-art facility built for Monongalia County Emergency Management Agency (MECCA) was officially opened Wednesday afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by the Monongalia County Commission.
MECCA, the agency that answers all 911 and emergency calls in the county and dispatches appropriate first responders, has been officially operating out of the new location since transitioning from its former Mon General Drive location March 27. The new building is at 911 Responders Drive, near Mountaintop Beverage in the Morgantown Industrial Park.
“This represents a long, long road that we started years ago,” said Monongalia County Commissioner Sean Sikora of the project that has been four-five years in the making.
“We looked at a number of different sites across the county and we ended up with this site being the best location for this center,” he said. “When we get our new interchange, it will be perfect. It will be right in the middle of the county with perfect access.”
In addition to taking daily emergency calls for the entire county, the center will also be used as a regional emergency response command center that can be quickly transformed into a near-impenetrable fortress of communication.
“This is basically a building inside a building,” Sikora said, describing the structure as “completely disaster-proof.”
“What we have here is a state-of-the-art facility that we deserve – we deserve the best here in Mon County and now we have that,” he said. “Every other county is going to come here when they are building a 911 facility – they’re going to come here to see what they need to do to make theirs the best.”
Sikora acknowledged the efforts and leadership of MECCA Director Jimmy Smith.
“Jimmy is, in my opinion, the best 911 director in the state,” Sikora said. “Now he has the best facility in the state, and we have the best staff in the state, and we deserve that here in Mon County.”
Smith said they were very happy with the new facility and found it lucky the ribbon-cutting ceremony fell during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Appreciation Week, which recognizes the critical public safety role played by 911 dispatchers and other emergency communicators.
He also pointed out the 9,600-square-foot garage that was erected with the 911 center and how the space can be used as an asset for all emergency and disaster response agencies in the county, such as the Mon County Health Department.
“Our health department has a lot of assets with no way to store them or put them,” he said. “So, we are working with our health department because this warehouse is not just for MECCA 911 and Mon County Emergency Management. It’s for all disaster response in the county and this way we can put everything under one umbrella and make it easy and accessible for everybody to get to when we need it.”
One such asset, a mobile clean room the health department obtained from NASA, was recently brought to the facility for storage, Smith said.
Both Sikora and Smith acknowledged the work and dedication of MIP developer Enrout Properties and Contractor March Westin.
“It made things go very, very smooth,” Smith said.
“They took it to another level and kept it under budget,” Sikora said.
Smith said as Mon County grows, it’s a great thing, but also places a greater burden on the public safety employees in the community.
“With this facility, we will be able to move forward and manage it and have the proper place to keep everything stored,” he said.
Over 50 people, including county, city and municipality officials, representatives from various police departments in the county, Mon EMS and other first responder agencies were witness as Sikora and Smith cut the ribbon, officially opening the new MECCA 911 center.
