Overview:

Construction is advancing on Chatham County's Multi Agency Public Safety Facility, while a linked presentation suggests a September 2027 completion, officials continue to postpone formal updates at recent commission meetings. A proposed $1.1 million contract increase was recently tabled pending further staff reports, leaving employees and residents vulnerable for another year of hurricane season.

After years of anticipation, the walls of Chatham County’s long-awaited emergency operations facility are standing tall. But county officials remain elusive about the facility’s progress, even as another hurricane season advances without a storm-proof center.

The new emergency operations center, dubbed the Multi Agency Public Safety Facility (MAPSF), is designed to strengthen emergency response across the county and withstand Category 5 hurricane conditions — something desperately needed, as assessments from 2017 show the county’s current emergency operations center can go down in a Category 2 storm. 

The Current GA reached out on June 13 to county commission Chairman Chester Ellis — as well as the Chatham Emergency Management Agency to speak with CEMA Director Dennis Jones and 911 Center Director Diane Pinckney — to discuss facility updates. County spokesperson Will Peebles replied via email, offering to organize interviews with the three officials. The Current has not confirmed an interview with Jones, Pinckney or Ellis despite multiple phone calls, voicemails and emails to Peebles.

Jones was expected to give a comprehensive presentation about the facility at the July 31 Chatham County Commissioners meeting, which Peebles recommended The Current attend. However, Ellis announced at the meeting that the presentation was postponed; Jones attended part of the meeting as the commission acknowledged now-former CEMA employee Chelsea Sawyer’s work before she embarked on a new role, but he left shortly after Sawyer was recognized.

The MAPSF center has been a work in progress for over a decade. Across that time, it’s been the subject of a flurry of transparency concerns. The facility was once expected to be complete in late 2023 or 2024, but before construction could begin, the county shut down multiple rounds of bids from contractors across the state. In May 2024, officials held a ground-breaking ceremony at the site before securing a contractor to actually build the facility, a move Ellis previously told The Current was necessary to prevent the county from losing a federal government payout.

Walls are in place for the Chatham County’s Multi Agency Public Safety Facility. Credit: Craig Nelson/The Current GA

In May 2025, Ellis awarded a $78.8 million contract to Reeves Young, a construction firm based in Sugar Hill, about 40 miles from Atlanta. At the July 31, 2026, meeting, the commission tabled a proposed $1,137,873 increase to the contract, bringing its total value to over $80 million. Proposed changes include removing unsuitable soil from the site as well as revising drainage, furniture and technology systems.

The contract increase was again tabled at the commission’s Aug. 14 meeting, with Ellis saying it will remain as such “until the staff gets back with us with the reports that we need from them.” 

Jones’ presentation also remained postponed; Peebles did not respond to a voicemail asking why. 

However, a presentation about the facility remains linked to the July 31st meeting agenda. Though the slideshow’s date reads April 21, it appears to have different content than what Jones presented at that prior meeting. The Current was unable to confirm if this was the same presentation intended to be delivered.

The linked presentation reads that construction for the facility is about 40% complete and “on track” (“with active schedule and change management risks,” an asterisk clarifies) to be completed in September 2027; WTOC also reported in May that the facility will be ready by then. 

According to its slides, the building has an area of approximately 104,369 square feet and will be able to support over 300 employees off-grid for three days. Next steps will focus on site development, interior build-out and working on the site’s emergency well. As per the presentation, the MAPSF facility has completed 40 percent of its contract value. Officials, it reads, are monitoring potential impacts from site revisions, security finalizations, design clarifications and traffic impacts on site access. 

The Current was unable to confirm with Jones if the presentation remains accurate at the time of publication, nor when the official presentation will be delivered.

Hurricane season in Coastal Georgia usually peaks in early September, according to Chatham County’s website. Even if construction is complete in September of 2027, emergency operations will proceed at the current 911 center on Police Memorial Drive off Chatham Parkway for at least one more hurricane season, leaving employees and community members at higher risk of extreme weather impacts.