Putnam County considering the construction of an additional substation on Tennessee Avenue to improve EMS services on the west side of the county.
Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said the west side is growing with more developments in that area between Cookeville and Baxter. Porter said EMS is already seeing an increase in the number of emergency calls in that area. Porter said there is no substation between Baxter and the main station on Willow Avenue.
“As the county continues to grow, our goal is to put our substations, you know, strategically out in the county where we can get the fastest response time possible when someone needs us,” Porter said.
Porter said the county is hoping to build a substation on Tennessee Avenue within the next two to three years. Porter said the county will target the Community Development Block Grant as an avenue to fund the project.
“We were very fortunate to get a lot of grants over the last several years, and we are hoping to get this one,” Porter said. “Ultimately, it’s about service to the community, and if it comes down to the point where we are not getting a grant, we will have to use tax dollars and build a station.”
One question some may wonder is would the county need to hire more personnel to staff the substation. Porter said that would not be the case.
“We have several crews that run out of the main station off of Willow, and so in the beginning, we would move one of those crews down to the substation,” Porter said. “And then, as call volume continues to grow over the future at some point down the line, then we would probably have to look at adding another crew.”
Porter said the county would build the station on 195 acres that the county purchased on Tennessee Avenue to build the convenience center, county garage, expo center, and county garage. Porter said the substation would likely be built spaced out from those facilities to avoid traffic backups when responding to calls.