Washington County officials held a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday morning on the new Emergency Management complex on Bison Road in Bartlesville.

 Emergency Management Director Kary Cox says discussions on the inadequacies of the current facility began five years ago. He says the response efforts to the 2007 flood in Washington County was a wake-up call for the agency because of the small size of the Emergency Operations Center.

 The new complex on Bison Road, just south of Adams Boulevard, is being built in two phases. The first is a 6,000-square-foot warehouse that Cox says will consolidate supplies and equipment all into one location.

 Phase two will include a 16,000-square-foot Emergency Operations Center. The new complex is being paid for through CARES Act and ARPA funding, as well as partner funding from the Cherokee Nation.