ROCKLAND – Contractors are well into in a six-month long Rockland renovation project to create new office space for Knox County employees, including those manning emergency communications, emergency management and the sheriff's department.

"It's going well," said County Administrator Andrew Hart Wednesday morning. "As far as what we are spending for money, I think it will serve the county for many years. It makes sense for a lot of reasons. We looked at many alternatives and they were all costly. Ultimately, this is the best deal."

On Sept. 11, a crew was at work inside the former VillageSoup space at 301 Park St., which Knox County taxpayers approved purchasing when they went to the polls Nov. 8, 2011. Originally constructed in 1980, the 8,304-square-foot building cost $500,000, and the county is spending another $1.2 million to renovate and add a 1,718 square-foot addition there.

The county hired Ganneston Construction Corp., of Augusta, for the job.

The renovation is part of a larger $2.5 million public safety project that included purchasing land adjacent to the Knox County Jail, which sits behind the Park Street property, and buying new microwave technology and radio hardware. The latter will be used to upgrade E-911 fire, police and ambulance communications across the 18 towns and islands of Knox County. The job also entails erecting new microwave towers to establish stronger signals.

Hart said a bond was issued this morning at a 1.8 percent interest rate, well below the 4.5 percent interest anticipated earlier this year. The county is borrowing from Roosevelt and Cross Bond Bank of New York City. At their Sept. 11 meeting, Knox County commissioners approved a contract with Activ Communications, of Brunswick, to complete communications upgrades. Hart is currently negotiating the financial terms of the contract, which was estimated earlier this year at $900,000. He said that amount may be reduced.

Currently, county dispatch personnel are crammed into one small room at the jail, and sheriff office deputies and detectives are sharing small office rooms there, as well. The spaces that will be vacated after dispatch and sheriff's deputies move over to Park Street will be occupied by jail personnel. Emergency management employees currently work in the basement of the old portion of the Knox County Courthouse in downtown Rockland. When they leave, that space will be used for storage.

Knox County comprises Appleton, Camden, Cushing, Friendship, Hope, Isle au Haut, Matinicus, North Haven, Owls Head, Rockland, Rockport, St. George, South Thomaston, Thomaston, Union, Vinalhaven, Warren and Washington, as well as the unorganized territory of Criehaven, an island south of Matinicus in Penobscot Bay.

The commissioners are gearing up for the next round of annual budget building. This month, department heads are reviewing their budgets with the administrator and county finance director. Oct. 12 is the target date for budget notebooks to be available to the county budget committee. Earlier this year, the budget process was riddled with controversy as the public debated administrative salary raises with county commissioners.

The public has the ability to get involved with the budget process early on, and an anticipated budget public hearing is already scheduled for Oct. 25.