The Winston County Journal

The E-911 operations center for Louisville and Winston County opened with great fanfare Thursday.

About 100 people attended the grand opening ceremony with officials representing Winston County, the City of Louisville, Mississippi Development Authority, Mississippi Homeland Security, Mississippi Rural Development, TVA and the Town of Noxapater on hand.

"We are proud of our new building and operations," said Louisville Mayor Daniel "Moe" Yarbrough.

The project, which has been funded mostly by state grant money appropriated by the Mississippi Development Authority, has been in the works for almost two years. The original plan had the county and city each committing $25,000 to the project and remodeling the old fire bay connected to the Louisville City Hall. With a vision from city engineer Kenny Morris and others, the idea of a separate building to house E-911 was developed.

The project grew to an expanded E-911 building, offices for Louisville Police Department Investigators and other offices. The city with the help of the Winston County Economic Development Partnership worked on a grant from the Mississippi Development Authority for $75,000. With the grant in hand and commitments from the county and city, the $125,000 building arose in the lot near the police station.

"This is truly at the heart of economic development since it makes a community better and increase in value," said Gray Swoope, chief operating officer for the MDA and why he knew the economic development grant was important for the community.

Yet, the building was only a small part of the operations. Winston County Civil Defense Director Clarence Kelley was also recognized for his efforts in receiving over $145, 000 in Homeland Security communication grants over the last few years which brought in and updated the communication equipment at the new center.

Storm Ready

Community

As the new E-911 building opened for operations, the National Weather Service recognized Winston County as a storm ready community.

"The big thing is putting everything together and everyone working together," said Alan Gerard of the National Weather Service as he complimented how Winston County officials and city officials worked so closely together to accomplish the storm ready designation as well as working together when storms hit.

Winston County officially became "StormReady," meaning that as a community the city has strong communication abilities able to receive and issue severe weather watches and warnings from the National Weather Service.

StormReady communities are essentially better prepared to save lives at risk from the onslaught of severe weather through better planning, education, and awareness.

Gerard said, "No community is storm proof, but a community that is StormReady can help to save the lives of the residents that occupy the area."

Winston County Economic Development Partnership hosts open house

To kick off the E-911 Grand Opening, the Winston County Economic Development Partnership hosted an open house prior to the event with over 150 attendees.

The open house gave community members, state, county and city officials to discuss issues and examine the remolded offices of the Chamber House.