Back in June when Steve Martini started as the new Williamson County 911 director, he had a huge task before him.
Martini was tasked to hire, outfit and coordinate the county’s new Emergency Communications Center. It is a part of the continued consolidation of emergency services at the new Public Safety Center on 304 Beasely Drive between the county and its municipalities.
“I set an optimistic – some have said aggressively optimistic – date of late fall for the consolidation of the City of Franklin dispatch system and of the rest of the county by then,” he said.
And by “late fall,” he meant by Dec. 20. He beat his mark by almost two weeks, as the Emergency Communications Center hosted its ribbon cutting Thursday morning after years of planning.
The ECC will coordinate 911 calls and all emergency communications throughout the Williamson County, in a more centralized, efficient manner than has ever been done before.
The radio and dispatch consolidation continues, and should be complete by this time next year.
Some 12 county and eight Franklin dispatchers will work in the ECC, with 38 total positions.
Brentwood and Spring Hill opted not to bring their 911 centers to the new location, but they work closely with the ECC.
“Our job is to get the right resource to the right place right in an emergency,” Martini said.
County Mayor Rogers Anderson was there, as well as Franklin Mayor Ken Moore.
“It has been over a year in the process of developing and consolidating the Franklin and Williamson County 911 center into one location,” Anderson said. “This will make our community a safer place. I think anytime we can have efficiencies in government that in the long run will help to save money and get things done in more expeditious process, then we’ve fulfilled our commitment of government. And public safety is, and should be, a high priority.”
