The long awaited Carbon County emergency operations and training facility is getting closer to becoming a reality, but the county needs municipal and emergency responder help with a grant application to make it possible.

Last week, Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that site prep for final phase of the project, located next to the Carbon County Emergency Management Agency in Nesquehoning, has been underway for about two months.

“We’re well underway,” he said, about the 4.5-acre site.

According to plans approved in December 2019, the final phase includes a 1,600-square-foot law enforcement training building, 400-square-foot observation tower, 1,820-square-foot firefighter training building, a 924-square-foot fire training tower, storage building, burn pad and vehicle extrication area, and other concrete pads for storage and utilities, as well as two parking areas with 69 parking spots.

The county is in the process of preparing an application for the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program to help with the final cost for the burn tower and training center. That phase is estimated to cost approximately $3.5 million.

Nothstein said they are hoping to be able to finalize things and get the phase out for bid in the next few months.

The county is asking municipalities and police, EMS and fire companies to write letters of support for the project, which will be included with the RACP grant application.

The training site, once completed, will be able to provide a centralized location for fire departments, EMS and police to hold trainings. There are currently no full training sites in Carbon County to hold classes and training to this scale.

The project has been in the works for over a decade, first proposed on a portion of the former Packerton Yards, and became a real necessity in 2015 after the fire training tower in Lehighton was condemned and demolished due to deterioration over the years.

Since then, the county has worked to find grants to help cover the costs for the project, completing the first phase in 2018 and, last year, scaled back on the project.

Emergency Lane was widened to accommodate space for larger emergency vehicles accessing the site. That project cost the county about $800,000. It still needs a top coat of blacktop, which will be done as part of the final phase of construction.