Stark County commissioners on Oct. 9 declined a $8,477.80 request from Dunn County (for a coroner who lives in Dunn County but works in Dickinson) to purchase a radio tied to the county’s new emergency radio/siren system, and they did not approve adding a new full-time training position in the Emergency Management office.

Emergency Manager Decker had proposed a training and exercise coordinator to design and run joint exercises and trainings for first responders, estimating a salary range of $60,000–$62,000. Decker said a permanent coordinator would support multiagency drills and help prepare the county for large events and emerging needs; she told commissioners, “That position would be a training and exercise coordinator.”

Commissioners asked for specifics about deliverables and long-term costs. The motion to add the new position failed after no second was offered.

Separately, the coroner/radio request—sent by Dunn County auditors—was vetted by local public-safety agencies. Emergency Manager Decker and Stark County Emergency Services staff recommended against funding the radio, saying the coroner would not receive meaningful radio traffic on the county’s encrypted channels and that adding the coroner to a talk group would require licensing and programming costs. Decker said, “I don’t think there would be any radio traffic that he would receive that would be beneficial.” The commission took no action to buy the radio.

Commissioners and emergency-management staff noted broader training and equipment needs, including the challenge of developing full-scale exercises (which staff said can take a year and cost tens of thousands of dollars). Decker and other emergency staff said the county currently meets minimal exercise requirements under EMPG (Emergency Management Performance Grant) but that investment in exercises and a coordinator would expand preparedness.