Pottawatomie County gets emergency management grants
The Pottawatomie County Board of County Commissioners approved grant funds to the County Emergency Management office during a regular meeting Monday.
According to County Emergency Management Director Chad Larman, the grants are funds from the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
"The grants were for specific items — one generator and light tower package, one non-potable water buffalo trailer, three pallets of drinking water and a training reimbursement grant," Larman said.
He said $14,800 was awarded in total, but two of the grants are a 50 percent match.
"The generator and light tower and the non-potable water buffalo trailer are the 50 percent match grants, which will be $13,000," Larman said.
Larman explained the generator and light tower will be used as an emergency back up generator for critical infrastructure, which includes dispatch centers, water treatment plants and more.
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"The non-potable water buffalo trailer and water pallets will be used for communities that lose water during a disaster or have an emergency with their water treatment plants," Larman said. "The training grant will reimburse my hotel and training cost for the Oklahoma Emergency Management Conference."
He said the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security sent the grants and items to the Pott. County Emergency Management office.
"Their goal is to place these assets in every county in Oklahoma to make sure we have these assets locally and not have to depend on the state so much," he said. "These assets will allow us to be more self sufficient."
Currently, the county doesn't have many large portable generators and at the moment Pottawatomie County has to rent a generator and light tower which costs quite a bit of money.
Citizen Potawatomi Nation Emergency Management currently is the only entity that has non-potable water units in Pottawatomie County, he said.
"We rely heavily on them when one is needed, but they deploy them all over and sometimes are not available to us. This new trailer will allow us to keep one in the county at all times," Larman said.
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"We will strategically place these items throughout the county so they can be easily accessed and there are quicker turn around times when a local agency needs them," he added.
The Emergency Management Office will have access to the money once the signed grant documents are submitted.
Larman said they should be able to order these items within the next few weeks.
Going forward, Larman hopes to continue to grow the program to become more self sufficient and not have to rely on the state or federal government as much as they have in the past. These new items will put the department on the path to achieve that goal.
"We will still continue to work with the state and federal agencies because we cannot go without them during times of disaster," Larman said.
This article originally appeared on The Shawnee News-Star: Pottawatomie County Emergency Management office awarded grants
