Butler County is seeking approval of a preliminary and final planned development in order to consolidate its coroner’s operations and emergency dispatch into one facility in the 1800 block of Princeton Road. The Butler County Sheriff will use the existing 911 center for different purposes, but it would be interfaced into the new construction.
There are five variance requests by the county, including two related to landscaping and two related to the building’s facade. The fifth variance is to have higher fence to encompass the perimeter for security purposes.
Butler County Commissioner Don Dixon was the only person to speak at the public hearing, and said the existing structures ― such as the nearby county elections office ― “will be compatible with the design that’s already out.”
“I think you’ll be very impressed and pleased when it’s finished,” he said. “It’ll be very pleasing and a great asset to the area.”
The new 911 dispatch center, which would be operated by the Butler County Sheriff’s Office is needed due to higher volumes of calls. More than 100,000 emergency calls are fielded by the dispatch center every year to any one of nine law enforcement agencies and 17 fire and EMS agencies.
There’s also a demand with the Butler County Coroner’s Office, which currently operates two facilities, an administrative office and the county morgue. The coroner’s office receives more than 800 calls a year and handles 400 cases. The morgue operates in a leased facility, Dixon said.
This area will also see an extension of the planned North Hamilton Crossing project, and Dixon said, “We’re not interfering in that (project) in any way.” The the multi-year North Hamilton Crossing infrastructure improvement is designed to help move east-west traffic north of High and Main streets in Hamilton. Thre are three legs of the project, and the eastern-most leg begins at North Fair Avenue, continuing along Gilmore Avenue and south of the Butler County Fairgrounds. It then turns south to connect with Ohio 129 by way of Hampshire Drive.
The planned setback is 143 feet and 95 feet from the North Hamilton Crossing project.
“It’s going to be a first-rate facility and design,” Dixon said. “We’re very excited to build this state-of-the-art 911 system and dispatch center, which we dispatch almost 50% of the county now. One day, I think, we’ll probably dispatch for the entire county, but that’s in the future.”
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