NEWTON COUNTY— With the governing bodies of both the city of Covington and Newton County having approved an intergovernmental agreement for the construction of a new E-911 facility, the project is all but underway.
The Newton County Board of Commissioners approved a debt intergovernmental agreement at their July 15 meeting, with the Covington City Council following suit on Aug. 4. Both authorities passed the debt intergovernmental agreement with little conversation, as the project is one that has been up for discussion for some time, making everyone well aware of it.
“This just extends our current operating debt agreement into the new day,” said Patrick Jaugstetter, the Newton County Attorney, to the board of commissioners.
The agreement dictates that the construction costs will be paid from a capital improvements fund. The fund has been built up through an E-911 surcharge that is collected on telephone bills. While a portion of that surcharge goes towards operational costs, some is set aside to be used for future renovation projects, like this.
If additional funds beyond what is in the capital improvement funds are required to complete the project, they will be shared by the county and city in a prorated manner. According to Jaugstetter, this is based on the number of calls received.
At the Aug. 4 city council meeting, Covington City Attorney Frank Turner, Jr. said that the Newton County Public Facilities Authority will issue the debt in the coming weeks.
Since early 2024, the county and city have been in talks to construct this new facility. At a Newton County Board of Commissioners work session on Feb. 5, 2024, the commissioners gave the city the go-ahead to pursue a request for quote (RFQ).
At the work session, Trudy Henry, director of the Covington-Newton County 911 Center, shared that their current space is not properly suited for all that goes on.
“It’s just hard… we don’t have a dedicated space to do briefing,” Henry said. “We pretty much just kind of stand in a circle, brief and put them on the radios.”
In an interview with The Covington News for the 2024 Faces of Newton magazine, Henry shared how this new site is long overdue.
“The 911 center employees deserve a building that has room for them to move around and be able to take a break when necessary,” Henry said. “They have a hard job and need somewhere nice, comfortable and a place they are proud to work in.”
On March 17, 2025, the Covington City Councilunanimously approved a plan from Sunbelt Builders in the amount of $5,673,927 for the new 911 Center.
At this meeting, Henry showed council members renderings of the project. According to her presentation, there will be a building with the radio where calls are dispatched and a building with offices, a decompression room and a training room.
“It’s really nice,” Henry said at the March meeting. “It turned out really good.”
