Local officials called the new countywide Unified Communications Center a catalyst for economic development at its grand opening Thursday.
And new development might be coming right next door to the 2696 Hamburg St. facility.
John Roth, owner of Highbridge Development, told local and state officials gathered at the ceremony that the long-vacant Grand Union site next to the UCC could finally be getting a tenant.
The 35,000-square-foot building has been empty since Grand Union closed about 15 years ago.
“I think that within the next couple of weeks hopefully I’ll have an announcement at the building next door, so that will be the next project that will be completed on this site,” said Roth, whose company owns the building and whose construction company, Plank Construction, built the 4,600-square-foot dispatch center on the formerly vacant lot. “And hopefully that will keep spurring development for future growth up and down Hamburg Street and in Rotterdam.”
The project would involve cleaning and renovating the site so a new business could move in, and the business would complement the dispatch center, he said.
“It’ll help change the dynamics of this street,” he said.
County Legislature Chairman Tony Jasenski said he expects the UCC — a consolidation of the county’s various dispatch operations — to spur even more economic growth. The center’s 55 employees will patronize local banks, restaurants and other businesses.
“It’s a catalyst,” he said.
As chairman of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Committee until this year, Jasenski played a leadership role in bringing the project to fruition. Legislator Rory Fluman took over as chairman of the committee when Jasenski became Legislature chairman in January.
“When this process began, there were 25 fire departments, seven police agencies and three EMS agencies using four different and independent dispatch call centers, and now we will have one state-of-the-art unified communications center serving all of our residents,” Fluman said.
Jasenski traced the center’s origins to 2005, when the Schenectady County Fire Advisory Board approached the Legislature, looking to establish a centralized dispatch system.
“The Legislature understood the importance of this public safety initiative and took the lead to develop a plan,” he said, thanking former Legislature chairwomen Susan Savage and Judy Dagostino. “They never wavered in their commitment to the project, even as leadership changed in the county and in some towns.”
He also thanked Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy and supervisors from the towns of Glenville, Rotterdam, Niskayuna, Princetown and Duanesburg for “buying into the process.”
The state gave the county $99,000 to study the feasibility of consolidation, and then a $1 million grant in 2009 to make the project a reality.
In addition to improving public safety, the dispatch center is expected to save about $673,000 annually — $245,852 for Schenectady, $149,509 for Glenville, $101,615 for Niskayuna and $176,657 for Rotterdam. The Legislature approved the center’s $2.87 million budget for May 1 through Dec. 31 last month.
“This is the largest thing Schenectady County has done with regard to emergency services since the advent of 911” in the early 1980s, Jasenski said.
Jeffrey Cunningham, a retired Albany Police Department communications director, was hired to be the center’s director. On Thursday he led a tour of the facility, which features 11 stations, each with its own computer and three or four adjustable monitors.
The center has a Hitech Computer Aided Dispatch system similar to what dispatchers have been using in the various locations across the county, so the training will be minimal when dispatchers from the town of Glenville start moving in Monday, he said. They’ll be followed in successive weeks by Niskayuna, Schenectady and Rotterdam dispatchers.
“Other than better furniture and a better building, there’s no difference,” Cunningham said.
Categories: -News-, Schenectady County
