Sewer issues forced the Montgomery County Joint Communications Center to close for nearly four months, but the building will reopen soon.

County commissioners said during a Oct. 24 meeting that the four-year old 911 center will be back in business by the first week of November at the latest. Employees had to work in a small trailer – which is north of the building – since July.

A rain storm in early July caused a sewer backup in the 911 building. Later that month, the county commissioners visited the 911 building to meet with Servepro, which is a cleaning and restoration business.

1st District Commissioner Dave Teeter said he, 2nd District Commissioner Doug Lensing and Presiding Commissioner Ryan Poston had to help replace almost all of the flooring in the building.

“It’s been a mess,” Teeter said. “The insurance has been a challenge to get them to approve stuff and do different things.”

After getting the repair estimates from Servpro, the county commissioners hired Bryan Groeber of Greenhead Construction and another construction company from Jared White to make repairs of the building.

“Luckily, we have two talented people,” Poston said. “I don’t think we would have been back as quick as we were.”

There are 10 employees at the 911 center, which is located at 250 Pickering Street. Josh Waters is the center’s director. He took over that role last year after  working as a dispatcher for years.

“They’re not fully staffed yet,” Teeter said. “As he hires one or two, he’ll lose one or two. It’s better than what it was when we had to have all of those emergency people come in.”

A year ago, the 911 center had a staffing crisis as it had just two employees after having eight the year before.

The Montgomery County Joint Communications Center was moved to its current location on Dec. 28, 2020 after it was housed at the Montgomery County Courthouse for years. In 2022, a proclamation ceremony was held at the center to dedicate the opening of the new building as well as recognize all of the dispatchers.

The county commissioners worked at the 911 center temporarily during a renovation project at the courthouse. They returned to the courthouse in April 2023.