The Warren County Board of Supervisors met in special session Thursday evening, discussing the replacement of the failing 911 system in the county. The meeting centered around approval of a proposal by Motorola to replace the system for just over $9 million, which was approved by the Warren County Emergency Management Commission in May. An opinion put forth by the Warren County Attorney’s Office was opposed to the project, as an interpretation of state law states that certain portions of the project must be put out for a public bidding process, rather than negotiating with one company. Board Vice Chair Aaron DeKock tells KNIA News he and the other board members felt that despite other counties in the state not putting similar projects out for bid, going against the recommendation of the county attorney could be a major liability for Warren County in the future.

“For those concerned, and I think everyone is, about our system failing and its not great, and concerned about delaying the process by putting it out for bid, I think they’d be real concerned about an additional 18 months because an aggrieved party decides to sue us because we didn’t follow the recommendation. As far as following the county attorney’s opinion, unless there is extreme facts that warrant a different conclusion, I’m always going to follow our county attorney’s opinion. They are the office that will represent us in court, and I want to make their job easier and be on the right side of the law.”

The county will move forward on opening up portions of the project for bid, and have set a public hearing date for the $10.8 million in bonds necessary to fund the project on June 24th at 9am.