Enhanced 911 (E911) is moving into a new house in Dallas County.

The E911 District Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to move its Central Communications Center – currently at 12 Franklin St. – to 311 Dallas Ave. The move is scheduled to be completed by Oct. 1.

“We’re supposed to be fully operational in the first year,” Chairman Steve Tidwell said of the facility.

According to Tidwell, the move was instigated by the E911 center’s current state of disrepair. Also, the center’s current location doesn’t meet homeland security guidelines which require a security fence and monitoring equipment.

E911’s purchase of the property at 311 Dallas Ave. – also known as the old pathology lab – will cost $395,000 – that amount received through a loan.

According to the E911 plan offered by board administrative coordinator Richard Bean, the money will be used to buy and renovate the property, as well as purchase E911 equipment, telephone lines and security systems, among other items.

The plan also lays out a strategy for repaying the loan – Selma and Dallas County would each pay $120,000 over five years; E911 would pay $219,600.

Bean said the plan wouldn’t cause any financial strain on Selma.

“Everything would be the same,” Bean said.

Prior to the vote, Tidwell commented that the move would ensure a safe working environment for E911 employees and provide E911 service to Selma and Dallas County.

“It is probably one of the best constructed buildings in Dallas County,” Tidwell said of the center’s new location.

E911 Commissioner Bret Howard said there was no better time for the move, based on the current condition of the center’s building.

When the center is fully functional, a call to E911 will appear as a dot on a computer screen alerting workers to the location of an emergency, Tidwell explained. Even cell phones will register on the screen come October.