County Commissioners voted last week to transfer $1 million from two fund balance accounts to keep construction of an EMTOC (Emergency Management Training and Operations Center) on track.

County Manager Curtis Potter says work could begin in May, after a final contract is negotiated between the county and the project’s low bidder, A.R. Chesson Construction Co. — a bid of $4.36 million for work that does not include an apparatus bay that was bid separately.

The financial adjustment was required after all bids opened earlier this month exceeded the remaining budget for the EMTOC construction that was originally planned for county-owned land at the Plymouth airport. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restrictions prevented that route.

The EMTOC is now sited at a wooded 12-acre parcel on south side of US Hwy 64 near the terminus of Plymouth’s Main Street...