The Medaryville Fire Department’s efforts to build a new fire station have gotten a boost from the Pulaski County Commissioners. The commissioners agreed Monday to let the department apply for a Community Development Block Grant, with the county serving as the pass-through agency.
Mike Tiede represents the Medaryville area on the county council and serves on the Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Commission. He told the commissioners that the Town of Medaryville can’t handle the grant application, since it recently got a Community Development Block Grant for its water tower project.
Tiede said the fire department is also exploring other funding sources, including a potential grant opportunity from Georgia Pacific. “Since they’re within so many miles of that gypsum plant, they’re giving away gobs of money right now, like half a million dollars,” Tiede said. “So then if they could get that grant then the other grant, then they could have a community center and everything on it. But they’ve kind of got a big wish, but they’ll take what they get.”
Tiede added that he’d make sure that Auditor Laura Wheeler gets all the necessary paperwork, as the application process moves ahead.
