Fort Bend County may see a new Emergency Operations Center constructed in the near future. Commissioners Court unanimously approved a resolution Sep. 24 to advance funding for the design of a new EOC. According to the resolution, the county expects the design to cost about $1.2 million and will pay for those services through general obligation bonds. No other details regarding the project—such as location, total project cost, size and features—were revealed at the meeting. The current EOC is overseen by the Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management and is located at 307 Fort St., Richmond. Multiple county officials have spoken out on the building’s need for repairs. During Harvey, ceiling tiles fell and water leaked through the ceiling of the EOC, said Chris Elam, Fort Bend County Precinct 3 manager of intergovernmental relations, at a June 27 citizen feedback meeting. The EOC was a project listed in the proposed Nov. 5 facilities bond referendum discussed in the summer. This bond referendum, however, was changed to an $83 million flood bond referendum for flood mitigation and drainage projects. Costs for the EOC were initially proposed at $23.2 million in June. At the time, the EOC was expected to be located at the county fairgrounds in Rosenberg. In July, the project cost estimate decreased to $19.9 million.