With hurricane season right around the corner, Lee County will unveil a $38.5 million expansion to its rebranded Public Safety Center at 10 a.m. May 29.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony is open to the public and tours will be provided of the 36,873-square-foot, two-story addition to the Public Safety Center, formerly known as the Emergency Operations Center at 2675 Ortiz Ave. in Fort Myers.
Funding for the expansion came from a federal program, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and from state appropriation funds “with key support from Lee County’s legislative division,” county Communications Director Betsy Clayton said.
During normal, nonemergency operations, in addition to Lee County Emergency Management, the expanded building will house the county’s public safety administration, emergency medical services and a new emergency communications center. It will have space for the public safety division of emergency communications, Lee County Sheriff’s Office communications, 911 operations and the traffic operations center for the county’s Department of Transportation.
When activated for an emergency, such as a hurricane or other disaster, the Public Safety Center will be staffed with key personnel from first responder agencies, emergency relief organizations, county departments, municipalities, utility companies and other essential agencies, county officials said.
John Schultz, chief of Lee County Emergency Management, said staffing of the Public Safety Center could soar to between 100 and 150 people during a full activation, depending on the scope of the disaster.
To accommodate operations and personnel during disaster activations, the new center is equipped with numerous restrooms, showers and sleeping areas, as well as an extensive training facility.
John Schultz
“The new building will add capacity for us to house people, building out our infrastructure that we already have and giving us additional capacity,” Schultz said. “We don’t want a storm to come our way, obviously, but we have a plan to where we can house the people that come to help us recover.”
Schultz said the inclusion of the county’s 911 operation in the facility will improve communications during a disaster or other emergency.
“Having our 911 communicators embedded into one facility is a huge benefit,” Schultz said. “There won’t be any lag time with getting communication in the community and also having our DOT partners with the cameras and the technology that’s piped into the facility. Instead of looking at it on a laptop, we’re going to have a better communication flow.”
He said the consolidation of various departments will give the county even more connectivity related to being responsive to storms.
In terms of the new structure itself, the hardened facility features extra-fortified walls and stormproof glass, with Schultz noting the building is rated to withstand more than a Category 5 hurricane.
“We sit 33 feet above the ground, on the hill,” Schultz said. “A lot of planning went into this building and the operations, a lot of redundancies and capabilities with technology and the radio system. Basically, this infrastructure is not going to get washed away or blown away in any kind of episode.”
The expansion was being planned well before Hurricane Ian made landfall in 2022, Clayton said, and the Board of County Commissioners approved a contract with an architectural firm in June 2019.
In addition to the new facility, Lee County Emergency Management is one of eight agencies nationwide taking part in a federal disaster response pilot program called the Community Lifeline Status System.
Funded by the Department of Homeland Security, the CLSS tool provides real-time data during disasters using community lifelines covering safety and security, food, hydration, shelter, health and medical, water systems, energy (power and fuel), communications, transportation and hazardous materials.
The Lifeline program is still in the development phase, Schultz said, and will allow Emergency Management to monitor and communicate the status of these areas during emergencies.
“It will help us communicate better, through technology, to where if an area is out of power, we can see the restoration levels of how we’re making progress post the storm,” Schultz said. “Hopefully, we don’t have to exercise that this year, but we’re working through the concept with the developers. It’s going to be another tool that we’ll be able to provide information out to the community.”
Asked what he most wants communities to know as hurricane season gets closer, Schultz said it all boils down to having a safety plan in place.
Schultz encourages a preparedness mindset before June 1, when hurricane season officially begins.
“The thing we stress all year long is to have a plan. You have to have a plan,” Schultz said. “Your family needs to have a plan, but even if you’re a single adult, you have to have a plan. We ask that everyone puts that plan in preparation for hurricane season before June 1, especially if you’re involved in taking care of the most vulnerable: the elderly, children or the special needs population.
“But don’t wait for us before you enact a plan. Don’t wait to start a plan when we call for an evacuation. Have that plan ready, whether it’s sheltering in place or visiting a friend or family in Clewiston or going across the state to Miami.”
