Portland Water empire keeps expanding
Here's the next boondoggle from the Admiral:
The City of Portland Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) is the location from which City officials coordinate local response and recovery to an emergency.Currently, the City's ECC is situated in outer southeast Portland at the Portland Communications Center. Concern has grown in recent years that the current ECC is inadequate because of its small size, split-level design separating ECC functions from one another, and lack of modern communications equipment.
A centralized and expanded location will also house the daily operations of the Portland Office of Emergency Management (POEM) and the Portland Water Bureau’s Emergency Management and Security programs.
Anybody seen a liars' budget for this one? No doubt it will be coming out of Portlanders' water bills -- everything else is. Bigger, bigger, ever bigger... and with "modern communications equipment," of course. We do so well with that stuff.
| Posted at 3:47 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (9)
Seriously, have we out grown what was just finished in this area.....clearly this is just another project that is really not necessary in these economic conditions.....if this gets charged to the water rates, clearly it is time to change the entire structure of our city government, hey maybe we should do that anyway. As citizens we should be able to violate our city charter the same way our elected officials do.
Posted by Debra Canales | July 20, 2011 4:33 PM
He was trying to get a plaace in NW Portland off Vaughn a couple of years ago, same story - different date.
Posted by Max | July 20, 2011 4:40 PM
The need for everything in one big room is valid. No private enterprise would try to run an equivalent scale critical operation the way they've been doing it. However, the idea that they should get new real estate to greenfield this is absurd. The park there gives them an adjacent place to land helicopters, which is needed, but also shouldn't be bought new.
[LOUD BUZZER]"Thanks for playing. Try again.'[/LOUD BUZZER]
Posted by dyspeptic | July 20, 2011 5:09 PM
Actually they were buying property out there with Water bureau money as early as late 2008 and early 2009.
They bought houses and ripped them down before they had figured out how to pay for the larger space. This was back when Randy was commish of BOEC and Water.
Then they got bond money. They're reconfiguring Bush street (ironic name) to fit the building in. Guess they need expanded space for the water police.
Posted by wet pants | July 20, 2011 5:34 PM
So if they put it all in one building and some disaster happens to that one building then what?
Posted by Evergreen Libertarian | July 20, 2011 5:36 PM
The building is projected to cost about $20 million. Who knows what they paid for the land?
http://www.portlandonline.com/oem/index.cfm?a=356092&c=53928
Posted by Jack Bog | July 20, 2011 5:53 PM
So wait, is the proposal to completely relocate the ECC? Or to expand the current site (which we've known about for a year or two)
Posted by Nick Christensen | July 20, 2011 6:49 PM
$700.00 a foot sounds about right.
Posted by Pdxjim | July 20, 2011 9:12 PM
Portland's big emergency is likely to be an earthquake in which bridges and buildings may very well collapse. Key responders and emergency gear may be on different sides of the river and unable to get to the same room, if that bunker room still exists.
We have available all sorts of communication devices that are small and portable, including video conferencing, that can be run for days on portable power.
If I or any other sensible person were planning an emergency HQ, I would put one on each side of the river, and connect them by off-the-shelf radio and microwave. And I would back them up with a lesser something on wheels. Redundancy is the key. Ask the guys who build airplanes.
Posted by niceoldguy | July 27, 2011 12:09 AM