A proposed merger of the Colorado Springs and El Paso County offices of emergency management is getting closer to becoming a reality.

The project was one of many local government initiatives that county Commissioner Darryl Glenn highlighted Thursday during the annual State of the Region address, which drew a few hundred people to the DoubleTree hotel in Colorado Springs.

“We’ve been working on a regionalized office of emergency management. We’ve made great strides with this and we expect to complete this within a year,” said Glenn, the commissioner’s term-limited president, who will leave office at the end of this month.

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The two governments are still working to iron out the details, and an agreement will have to be signed before anything is final, said Bret Waters, deputy chief of staff for the city.

“There’s some good momentum. I think there’s some good coordination, cooperation, working together,” Waters said after Glenn’s speech. “It’s quite a lot of details.”

City and county officials have assessed how the structure would impact aspects of the agencies, such as organizational structure, budgets, facilities and training programs, Waters said.

The county OEM is in a building on Mark Dabling Boulevard that houses other county operations, including fleet management and wildland fire response. The city OEM is housed in the Fire Department headquarters on Printers Parkway.

Both offices played a critical role in helping to inform residents and coordinate resources during the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest fires. They also conduct routine training and exercises to make sure that the city and county are prepared in the event of a natural disaster or other major crisis.

Where a joint center might be and how it would be staffed are still unanswered, Waters said.

The merger is meant to reduce redundancies, increase efficiency, and make operating and communicating a a little easier during emergencies, officials say.

“It creates enhanced public safety. That’s the big deal. That’s the money shot here,” said county Commissioner Mark Waller.

At the State of the Region event, hosted by the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce & EDC, Glenn touted other progress in the county, including website revamps, funding boosts to address a lengthy backlog of road maintenance, and efforts by the Sheriff’s Office to beef up patrols in the eastern part of the county and reduce overcrowding in the jail.

He also lauded commissioners’ recent decision to commit sales tax revenue to help finance two urban renewal projects in downtown Colorado Springs and the award of a $65 million federal grant to the widening of the Interstate 25 “Gap” from Monument to Castle Rock.