Dade County accepts EMPG funds for radios and a FEMA hazard‑mitigation planning grant worth about $28,000

Dade County emergency management staff told commissioners the county has been awarded federal EMPG (Emergency Management Performance Grant) funds to purchase portable radios and that the county also received a planning grant to update its local hazard mitigation plan.

Staff reported the EMPG award is a fifty‑fifty matching grant. The quoted purchase was for two Apex N70 portable radios at $16,007.23; the grant share covers roughly half and the county must provide the match. Staff said prior radio purchases and repairs have been ongoing as the county replaces aging equipment and that the newer radios are more expensive. “We get $7,500 and something dollars a month a year, and we have to match that 50%,” staff said in explaining the match funding.

Separately, staff said the county received notification of a federal hazard‑mitigation planning grant of about $28,000, with roughly $21,000 federal and $7,000 local share; the plan is updated every five years and funds are typically used to hire a planner and hold public meetings to revise preparedness priorities and reflect new infrastructure like sirens or shelters.

Staff said the county typically partners regionally with neighboring counties (they named Day Walker [sic], Catoosa and Whitfield in the meeting) to use the same planner because of shared geographic risks and mutual aid coordination.

Commissioners asked cost and implementation questions. Staff said they expect to order the radios and use SPLOST to cover the local match when needed; the county also has been sending aging radios out for repair and replacing units purchased in earlier years.

Both the radio purchase and the hazard‑mitigation planning grant were included in the consent agenda and passed with the broader consent vote.