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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Wapello County is moving forward with its new 911 communications tower.

The current tower, which sits atop St. Joseph’s Hospital needs to relocated because the former hospital is scheduled for demolition.

The new tower will be located just west of the Ottumwa Central Fire Station and will be funded by the 911 fund.

“Well it is something that we have to do. It is not like one day we decided, oh why don’t we build a new tower. It has to be done with St. Joe coming down. We have to have a place, and it is terrible to be the sheriffs department and be in an area where your hand-held apparatus doesn’t get good reception. Because when you are out in the county and there is a criminal in the woods, you want to be able to contact everybody,” said Jerry Parker of the Wapello County Board of Supervisors.

Parker says that he has a meeting next week to discuss putting out bids for the new tower. He, and the other supervisors, would like to see the tower up and running by the end of this construction season.