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Vernon County awarded $400,000 flood-resilience grant; emergency management updates shelters, hazmat and storage plans
Summary
Emergency management reported a $400,000 pre-disaster flood resilience state grant (about $300,000 grant, ~$99,000 county match), shelter memorandum updates, hazmat training, and a storage-facility RFP due March 4; officials also warned of unusually dry conditions and increased brush-fire activity.
Vernon County emergency management told the Public Safety Committee the county received its full-request pre-disaster flood-resilience award and outlined several preparedness and recovery items.
The grant totals $400,000, the presenter said, with $300,000 as the state grant award and roughly $99,000 as the county match. Departments to participate include highway, zoning, land information and land conservation; the work will fund culvert inventory and similar resilience studies for smaller culverts not previously inventoried.
Emergency management also reported that 19 of 23 memorandum-of-understanding shelter agreements are returned and that two recent grants (the Emergency Management Performance Grant and a HEPA grant) were closed out for 2024; reimbursement checks for those grants are expected in April or May under the state schedule.
Hazmat and training: the county hazmat team received state lab-of-hygiene training for sampling and testing protocols and expects some reimbursement for radio purchases tied to state hazmat funds. The presenter said the hazmat team strives to be self-supported through reimbursements rather than county levy.
Storage facility: state-approved plans were received for a county storage building; the county issued a request for proposals with responses due March 4 and an anticipated review at the general-government meeting on March 5. The presenter said the county may act as general contractor.
Public-safety reminders: emergency management issued a burn advisory for dry conditions in January and reported eight brush/grass fires in the month and one structure fire over a weekend. The county is monitoring conditions and warned that an unusually dry spring could increase fire risk.
Resourcing and volunteer gaps: officials discussed challenges recruiting volunteers for EMS and fire and noted discussion at the state level about raising required training hours for first responders, a change local officials said could challenge recruitment.
The committee also discussed water/ice safety and dive-team coverage: Vernon County disbanded its dive team circa 2010–2011; the closest dive teams listed were in La Crosse and Sauk County. Several departments maintain ice-rescue equipment for above-surface rescues but county officials noted a full underwater dive response requires a dive team.
Speakers included the county emergency management director (unnamed in the transcript), the public-health officer, and committee members.
