LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) – An East Texas commissioners court took steps today towards securing a new ‘state of the art’ mobile command vehicle.
It’s a hefty price tag that Gregg county commissioners are looking at, but an essential piece of equipment for first responders.
In Gregg county commissioners court, through the ‘American Rescue Plan Act’ or ARPA, commissioners approved a resolution to use funding from ARPA towards the purchase of an all purpose mobile command vehicle.
“What we’re going forward as a proposal is to build a piece of equipment from the ground up that is designed specifically to be a command vehicle,” says Gregg county sheriff’s office chief deputy Craig Harrington.
“It’s critical that we have a piece of equipment that we can utilize to run command for those critical incidents,” said Longview police assistant chief Ben Kemper.
The need is urgent, as the current county mobile command vehicle is old and obsolete, and cannot be refitted to include vital communication equipment.
“The current unit we have is built on and RV concept, we’re having issues with it. It’s an 05 model,” Gregg county sheriff Maxey Cerliano told the commissioners.
“The ability to retro fit it, is no longer there,” says Harrington.
“A lot of the stuff we’re running into with our current equipment is they’re just not supportive. Parts are not supportive,” said Longview fire department assistant chief Stephen Green.
They are aware of the price tag.
“I know this is a lot of money,” Cerliano said.
The purchase price is not to exceed 1-point-6 million dollars, with the county contributing 50-percent not to exceed 800-thousand dollars.
“Without a piece of equipment like this, we’re operating out of vehicles, on the side of the road, without a place to get together and make joint decisions,” Kemper says.
“We’re looking at something that’s going to last for a couple of decades if necessary,” says Harrington.
The unit unit will be utilized by multiple Gregg county agencies.
According to the Gregg county sheriff’s office, the new unit has an expected delivery date of two years. By that time their current mobile command vehicle will be 20-years-old.
The mobile unit is needed to replace the aging and obsolete unit currently used by Gregg County. Chief Deputy Craig Harrington talks about how essential the new
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