Staff photos / Dan Pompili The new Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency Mobile Command Post, parked outside the Mahoning County Courthouse on Thursday, was bought at no cost to county taxpayers after Mahoning County commissioners approved $800,000 in American Rescue Plan funds for the vehicle two years ago. The final price tag was just over $732,000.

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County has a new base for emergency management coordination, and it can go anywhere it is needed.

On Thursday, after the regular meeting of the Mahoning County commissioners, the Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency unveiled its new mobile command post outside the county courthouse.

“This new mobile command post represents a major investment in the safety and resilience of our county,” EMA Director Robin Lees said. “Its capabilities will allow us to coordinate more effectively during emergencies, large-scale events, and incidents requiring multi-agency response.”

While the roughly 30-foot vehicle does represent a considerable investment — $732,315 — it also came at no cost to Mahoning County taxpayers. Lees lauded commissioners for allocating $800,000 in federal American Rescue Plan funds two years ago for the vehicle, which can be used by any of the county’s emergency service agencies or partners at the local, state and federal levels.

“The previous one was 20-plus years old and had kind of reached the end of its life; advances in technology and everything else had kind of passed it by,” Lees said.

The new vehicle, which arrived in December, replaces the command post known affectionately as the “emergency winnebago,” which was acquired in the early 2000s at the urging of the late Walter Duzzny, former director of Mahoning County’s emergency management planning organization — forerunner of the EMA.

Lees said EMA Information Coordinator Adam Guerrieri consulted other county boards across the state that have MCPs and included them on the county’s planning for the new vehicle.

“It’s a much different setup. We’re on a freightliner frame, power train and drive, and the box on the back is all custom made to our design, with what we could afford,” Lees said. “It will be an asset for years to come.”

Manufactured by MBF Industries of Sanford, Florida, the MCP is outfitted with two full slide-outs for expanded interior space; dedicated and separate command and communications areas, separated by a central galley with kitchen and bathroom amenities; and the capability to convert to a fully operational 911 dispatch center.

The county’s press release states that the MCP contains 3 miles worth of electrical and data cables to “support mission-critical systems” and the most advanced technology currently available with the capacity to support upgrades and expansions.

EMA Emergency Coordinator Conner O’Halloran said the command area includes various screens and the ability to rebroadcast anything that appears on one screen anywhere else in the vehicle, including the exterior briefing area.

The MCP is equipped with 360-degree camera coverage and a 40-foot mast with zoom-capable cameras.

“It has its own internet, it’s connected to AT&T FirstNet, which is our main network for emergency services, and it has some availability to put a satellite on here at some point,” he said. “It’s all designed to be adapted and added as technology develops or as we have the need for something else.”

Lees and O’Halloran both noted that the MCP will be used not only for emergency situations but to manage large events such as the Canfield Fair and Y-Live, as well as providing support for major security concerns such as presidential visits.

Lees also said the post will be used to provide mutual support to other counties, which he said Mahoning County does at no cost because all of the neighboring counties have an understanding that they will support one another as needed.

Commissioner Geno DiFabio said the vehicle is exactly what the county needs for major emergencies such as the explosion last fall at the Phoenix House senior living center in Austintown.

“I was on the scene right after the explosion, and I saw what was set up at the explosion site and then back at the school and it was almost — watching these guys who know how to do it — it was almost like a symphony,” he said.

“Everybody had their thing. It was like a movie, they had a round table and they contacted hospitals, pharmacies, doctors. It was amazing. And to have a vehicle like that to coordinate that out of is invaluable.”