Starke County EMA Director J. Nier is working on several grant applications.
She told the Starke County Commissioners last week that one grant approved so far this year is the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness grant worth $10,000. She submitted grant applications for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security for new radios for all county emergency responders. She noted on the application that when the state upgrades to the next phase of radios, the county’s radio communications will be non-existent. The grant would be for $149,353.50 for the radio upgrade.
Nier also applied for an SHSP grant for a public information and warning system, similar to a NIXLE system where she can send important messages to residents on cell phones. She explained that she could also have the capability to alert residents in a certain area by distributing information on a certain cell phone tower. That grant is in the amount of $6,250.
Another grant would assist the county in upgrading the county’s servers in the amount of $118,799.50.
Information on the status of those grants will be given once Nier is notified.
Nier also submitted a grant application for $3,100 that would help purchase breathing protection apparatus for police officers. She mentioned that police officers are often the first to arrive at an accident that may involve a chemical or they enter a house where methamphetamine was manufactured. Sometimes officers aren’t properly equipped with proper breathing protection so funding would help purchase the necessary equipment. That grant is anticipated to be awarded in 2020.
The commissioners praised her efforts and noted that in 2018 she secured almost $200,000 in grants to help with the purchase of the Computer Aided Dispatch System at the sheriff’s office and salary reimbursement funds.
