Ulster County Executive proposes new emergency management, county gov facility

Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan made an announcement last week regarding his plans for a new emergency management and government operations facility for the county.

Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan outside the existing Emergency Operations Center with emergency responders on Nov. 4. Photo courtesy of Ulster County Government

“Our Emergency Management team works tirelessly ”” through everything from hurricanes, to overdoses, to once-in-a-century pandemics ”” to keep our residents safe,” Ryan said. “I am very proud that we are finally investing to build a facility that respects the tremendous work that they do to serve the people of Ulster County. An expanded, state-of-the-art Emergency Management Center will help keep our community safe and ensure we deliver the best possible support to our residents at their moment of greatest need.”

The proposal is part of Ryan’s 2022 Ulster County Executive Budget Capital Improvement Program, and would centralize various county government functions under one roof, at the new Ulster County Public Safety Communications Center.

The estimated cost of the project is $13 million.

It would include the Ulster County Emergency Operations Center/Government Operations Center, all the divisions of the Ulster County Department of Emergency Services and the County”™s Public Safety Answering Point, along with the 2022 launch of the Service Navigator program, which is an evolution of the COVID-19 Hotline/Ulster County Recovery Service Center that was launched almost two years ago. The program provides a “front door” to government services and communications for residents and county employees, and most of the service requests from it have been related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A site for the center has not yet been chosen. The county and its consultants will identify and choose from no more than six sites for initial consideration.

After a site is chosen, site design, bidding and construction will be carried out.

“Today is a major step forward in having an Emergency Management and Government Operations Center that both meets the needs of our residents but also acknowledges the hard work of our first-responders,” said Ulster Director of Emergency Services Everett Erickson. “I thank Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan for his support on this project. His leadership in ensuring the project moves forward has been instrumental in bringing us to this day.”

The Ulster County Public Safety Communications Center is estimated to be completed in September of 2023.